Life Goes On

As our lives go on we should take a moment to remember the families of victims of violence all over the world. We need to remember that although we move on to other news, they are just beginning the process of grief and healing. As we face our daily struggles, we should send them prayers and thoughts of love and kindness(two things the world could use a litlle more of). Many are facing daily violence, not a one day venture into hell; and so they mourn and try to survive and keep the remainder of their family alive. So many need our spiritual support. Keep them always as your reminder of just how nice a day you're really having.

I begin heading back to work today, so life goes on for me on many levels. I have been tutoring and teaching meditation but I was called to substitute today. I was approved just before the spring break and today I was called for the first time. I am excited to see just how much I have missed being in the classroom and just how it will all work out. I could only cover a part-time absence because the high school day begins very early and I didn't have enough notice to take the full-day slot. That is good though, because I like to take things slowly.

I'll keep you posted!

Virginia Tech and Violence

I'm still sad. I'm sad because this is truly a recurring nightmare. A young man with mental health issues feels ostracised by a community of peers and uses violence to express what he is otherwise unable to voice. The community is a good community of people who are not prone to segregating others and have attempted to connect with the young man. It makes me think back to Erikson and the affect of society on the individual. Certainly if the immediate community is not one which promotes violence then the larger influence of society must be coming into play. We can't discount the exposure to violent attitudes and actions at many levels within our society. It is accessible everywhere. We also can't discount this country's long standing difficulties dealing with mental health issues. We don't stand alone on the world stage on any of these issues which only makes the impact on the individual even greater. Although we have anti-bullying and zero-tolerance statues and policies around the country in communities and schools, I know of incidents just this year in New Jersey where these policies have not been applied by the local or school authorities. Just look at the videos of youth violence popping up on the internet. Do you think the prosecution of those involved is stopping the violence or merely curbing the desire to post it on the net? I think that it is time to face the truth about human violence and keep the conversations on-going in the schools so that it is not put aside, overlooked and forgotten until the next school shooting.

A Sad Day

We really need to do something about violence in our American culture. We just can't ignore the subtle messages left by our country's past history. We ignore them, we make excuses and we find something else to blame; but the truth keeps rearing it's ugly head. Our country's history is one of violence and the message we dole out to the world is one of violence and our young people keep suffering the end result of this violence whether here in our schools or overseas in our wars. Maybe we need to reexamine the social current against liberal thought and peaceful efforts of coexisting on this planet. I'm not talking about everybody sitting in a circle chanting, but why that is so odd or offensive to some needs to be examined; I'm talking about looking into the negative, reactionary, violent disposition against organizations like the United Nations. We don't need to get too deep or existential. We just need to take an honest examination of the social current of thought about peaceful existence with other human beings. Why are you so against those who believe the world is a village? Why do you get angry at the thought of the United Nations managing conflicts peacefully? Why does everything have to be a "get them before they get us"? Why can't we look at the trouble in the world today and voice the truth about our responsibility in the mess without being anti-American? It may seem to you that I'm taking too broad a picture of this gunman and his actions, but I put forth that we have always taken too narrow a view and that is why we keep dealing with this recurring nightmare. A nightmare which is all too real and all too sad.

God Bless the life, friends and family of all involved with this tragedy in Virginia. I see peace in America and in the world. See it with me.