I am a mother. I was an elementary school teacher. The horrific news from Connecticut struck me as hard as if I were there. It rattled me to my core. I spent the day crying and praying and hugging my kids. And evidently so did a whole lot of other people. I have a lot of friends on Facebook, and every single post was in some form a tribute to those beloved souls. Just seeing the outpouring of love brightened my spirits, even if just for the moment.
When I had moved through my grieving, what remained was an image of the love that was present at that time. It was palpable. It has been said that we need the darkness to see the light. For whatever reason, we seem to be getting a whole lot of that darkness of late. But what we are also getting is even more light. The outpouring of love and caring for the victims of Hurricane Sandy was amazing. And when you think people have given all they have to give, this comes along and they give even more. It is amazing and awe-inspiring and, I think, taken for granted or skimmed over. "It's just what we do" is the response. "It's no big deal."
It is a big deal! It is the message!
On that one day, I saw nothing but love and concern and prayers and even more love from thousands, probably millions, of people. Can you take in the power of that energy? Can you take in what was happening? One person caused a lot of darkness, and millions of people responded with overwhelming light. There is no problem here -- only a solution. We have demonstrated what can be -- what it is -- if we can only claim that power. It is up to us to be the light to the world, not to add to its darkness. Just as it only takes one match to light a candle, which can light another, and so on, it is only a single light that is needed to illuminate the world. You.
You can stay stuck in the negativity, in the condemnations, in the accusations, or you can light the path out of it. God knows our planet needs it!
I offer you my light -- please pass it on!