"I Can Do Something"

 If you haven’t yet done so, go to YouTube and watch the longer, six minute version of the Nashville Police Department’s entrance into the Covenant School in order to track down and take down the killer of six innocent people.  You’ll probably find, as I did, the video difficult to watch, but do it anyway.

Now, I won’t say much about the seeming preponderance of these kinds of tragic events in our society in this post.  I won’t say much about the Second Amendment and all of the controversy that surrounds it.  I won’t even say much about what we should do to combat this kind of terror, at least in terms of all of the proposed “solutions” bandied about by the politicians..  My intention is to zero in on the actions of the men and women who, as the motto goes, “protect and serve,” as well as our individual responses to societal ills such as mass shootings.

Here are some takeaways from my watching the bodycam video.  I’ve never been trained as a police officer, so I cannot comment on the procedures they used.  I presume they knew what they were doing, and acted according to their training and policy.

Most striking to me is the first seconds of the video when the officer shouts, “Let’s go!” as he enters the building with other officers.  They know they are going into dangerous territory, and they know they will probably engage the shooter at some point.  They know they may be shot themselves, and possibly be killed in the line of duty.  Yet they run toward the danger while the rest of us are running away from it.

Second, they waste no time in finding the killer.  They literally run from room to room, clearing their way as they go.  And when they hear shots coming from the second floor, telling them where the killer is, they bound up the steps to engage.

Third, not just one officer, but several place themselves in harm’s way in order to mitigate a disaster and end a killing spree.  These officers apparently were well-trained.

Finally, I continually reminded myself while watching the video that this is not a movie.  This is not make-believe.  This is real life.  This is happening.  This is the way it is.  Real people have been killed.  The shooter was killed on camera for the world to see.  Families, friends, and loved ones are now dealing with the aftermath of the carnage.  The nation is again in mourning.

Just as is the case with other mass shootings, the inevitable political posturing, pontificating, and finger-pointing comes once again into our consciousness.  Everyone is an expert.  Everyone is a critic.  Everyone can say what the answer is not.

But no one, it seems, definitively knows what the answer is.

Oh, we may think we have the answer when we legislate our public schools to teach the NRA gun safety course or pass more stringent gun control laws.  We may think the answer is better mental health care at government expense or equipping school staff with firearms.  But  the truth is that none of these, well-intentioned as they may be, will fix the problem.  These things may put a band aid or two on the issue, but the underlying problem will still be there.

And for us ordinary folks, we feel helpless to do anything.  Passing gun control laws or equipping school staff with firearms isn’t anything we have any control over.  We can email our representatives, vote at the next election, and maybe even carry a sign on a sidewalk in front of the Capitol building, but that’s about the extent of our involvement.  And in any event, those things don’t fix anything in the here and now.  Mass shootings are, unfortunately, a daily occurrence.  So we go about our daily lives with a sort of a pall hanging over our heads as we ponder yet again another senseless and horrific act, wondering how it will all end.

Can I offer some advice for those of us who feel helpless and wonder when and where the next mass shooting will take place?  I don’t pretend to have the answers.  As I’ve often said, I’m not sure I even know the questions to ask.  But I do know this.  As my good friend Jennifer White has said in this famous quote generally attributed to Edward Everett Hale, “I can’t do everything, but I can do something.”  The full quote, based on quick research, seems to be this:  “I am only one, but I am…one.  I cannot do everything, but I can do something.  And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”

So, what is the something we CAN do?  Perhaps it is communicating with our elected representatives and officials.  Maybe it is volunteering in our public schools.  It could be volunteering with a non-profit to help mitigate poverty and hunger or provide mental health care.  Maybe we could sign up with a non-profit to mentor kids.

And, for those of us who are people of faith, perhaps what we can do is live out our faith in our daily life and living.  Love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.  Love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  Let our speech always be showered with grace.  Offer a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus.  Do to others as we’d like others to do to us.  Go the extra mile.  Forgive others as we have been forgiven.  Do all that we can to live at peace with everyone.

And pray.  Petition the God of the universe.  Be persistent.  And be at peace with His response, whatever it may be.  And while we are praying, maybe we need to offer thanks to God that there are some in this world who will run toward danger in order to eliminate it while the rest of us run from it in safety.

 

Blessings,