I was struck by this most recent tragedy at Virginia Tech as I have been struck by our countries other most recent tragedies, with the same thought, how do we stop this from happening again? At first it seemed like an impossible task. That there is nothing I can do to protect our youth, the future of our country, and our selves from enduring more senseless violence and the experts confirmed my feelings by saying that we must expect things like this to happen again. But as I watched the endless coverage of the VT massacre featuring the students and faculty who survived and those who did not, the families directly affected by the senseless acts, and the plethora of information uncovered about the vigilante who inflicted the pain upon our country I realized there is something, staring me, and the rest of us, right in the face that we can do to prevent these atrocities from continuing to occur.
The students and their resilience was my first clue. They are not violent or angry. They are not spewing racist comments about South Koreans. Their sense of community is so strong and so true in their hearts that in the face of death they find strength in one another and move forward in light and not in the darkness of ignorance.
The stories of the selfless heroics by those in the classrooms was my next clue. The students who risked their lives to protect their fellow students by barricading doors made me proud. The professor who used his own body as a barricade and sacrificed his life to give the students in his classroom time so they could jump from the windows truly stuck me. This professor had the fortitude of spirit to stand up against the threat of death as he had before against Hitler and Communism and for him to fall at the hand of one lunatic after surviving the most horrible man this world will hopefully ever know made my heart ache, for his spirit is what we all need. A spirit that goes on in the face of incomprehensible violence and is willing to do what it takes to save who you can when you can no matter the price.
So what can be done to end the seemingly endless string of senseless tragedies and horrors that are plaguing our nation?
We, each and every one of us, parents, students, teachers, adults, children, government, employers, employees, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, and strangers must all be better human beings. We have the power as Americans, as Human Beings, to stop these incidents from occurring by eliminating the environment that creates the types of people who inflict these tragedies upon us all. Each of us must make it our personal goal to be good to one another. To stop ridiculing those who are different from us. To stop dealing with our feelings with violence. To stop blaming others and start owning up to our own contributions to the situation. To stop finding ways to delineate our selves from one another and instead find ways to relate and connect with one another. To find compassion when there is no understanding. To be kind and fair. To be gracious and not cruel . To trust and not be afraid. To be trustworthy and hopeful. To have faith in one another and bring out the good in other people. To be tolerant and forgive. To teach and not pass the job on to someone who just doesn't exist. To be responsible and conscious and not passive and unaware that we live our lives as part of a wonderful community that is reaching out to each one of us for help as it suffers the repercussions of the way we live our lives in silent denial of the fact that we all want it to be better but refuse to make the effort to make it better because we are tired and preoccupied with the stringent demands of seeking the quintessential American dream. But as we all have seen, the price we pay for ignoring our conscience is that we must continue to endure these horrific incidents.
I pledge to be better. I pledge to find compassion where I do not find understanding. I pledge to teach my son how to be a better person, how to cope with the challenges life will give him and how to treat other human beings. I pledge to be an example to all those I meet and to not be part of the creation of another monster who can destroy the fabric of our society and force our government and authorities to infringe upon the freedoms of 99.9% of law abiding citizens in the attempt to ensure safety from individuals who have no regard for the laws of this land or any other.
We do not have to stand for the occurrence of these types of incidents, no matter how big or small. But we must not stand by and wait for someone else, or some other mechanism to fix the problem for us. We all must bring positivity to our world and make it better for we are the ones who make it what it is. We are not helpless. We are full of power and we must take that power each of us has and do something good with it for it is our responsibility to use our powers for the betterment of human kind and not let them fall to the way side and allow evil the opportunity to do as it pleases with humanity.
I ask each one of you who read this to take a moment and think what you can to do be a better human being. There is something each one of us can do to be better and no matter how slight or occasional your action is, it can and will make a difference.
Take my hand and make a pledge to be better human beings and to raise a better generation of children who will not have to endure these horrific events and can live the lives of which we all dream.
Please share this or your thoughts with someone. Our ability to communicate is our greatest talent.