Sandy Hook Reflection

This time last week, I was watching as reports began popping up of lockdowns at schools in a small Connecticut due to a gunman. I watched as those reports verified that shots had been fired. I watched as the fatality count jumped from the single digits to the teens, and eventually to the twenties. I watched as the reports confirmed that the majority of these fatalities were children--young, innocent children.

I've been avoiding discussing this tragic incident all week, not because I think that it doesn't need attention, but because I haven't known what to say about it. Many people have attempted to pigeon-hole this incident as being about gun control, mental illness, or even "banning" God from schools, but it's not that simple. There isn't any one issue at fault, and there isn't any one simple solution. In fact, I don't know that there is really a "solution" at all--I'm not sure I believe that there is truly a way to guarantee that something like this could never happen again.

But I do believe there is something that we--everyone, in all corners of the US and world--can do for Newtown. And it isn't send hundreds of teddy bears or thousands of cards/pictures, or even build elaborate memorials. Sure, these gestures are nice, and certainly well-intentioned, but Newtown doesn't need all of those things. Newtown is a community that has been torn apart, and that wound is something that only those community members can fix.

Instead, let's make it our mission to honor Newtown by reaching out and strengthening the bonds within our own community. Use your fundraising efforts to supply Christmas presents to the less fortunate in your own community. Have your classroom full of students make cards and drawings to deliver to nearby hospitals, nursing homes, prisons--even the families that live in the neighborhood of the school. Take the time to explain the importance of community to your children as you are talking with them about the tragedy--and then model being a good citizen by serving the at the food pantry as a family. Don't just jump on board with the 26 Random Acts of Kindness movement to honor the victims--make it a goal to perform a random act of kindness every day. And if your schedule and abilities allow, mentor a child at a nearby school.

When a distant community like Newtown is broken, "helping out" by sending a token of your sympathy is easy--it's a one-time, no commitment obligation. But taking the step to invest those efforts into your own community--and invest them more often than just when tragedy strikes--that's a much more difficult step. But in a time like this, nothing is more important than community.