My heart and my prayers go out to the families of the Knoxville, TN congregation that was attacked yesterday. I heard the story on NPR last night on my way to work. The UUA website, http://www.uua.org/ has a statement from President Sinkford, as well as links to the church and to a CNN story about it, being updated often.
I just don't understand why things like that happen, or why someone could be so damaged inside as to do something like that. All I can say is that I am sending healing love and light to everyone touched by this tragedy, including the perpetrator. I can't imagine living inside of a brain and heart that could do such a thing. What a sad, wasteful life.
Please send out prayers, love and compassion to the congregation, the staff, the kids and the loved ones of all in that faith community, and to the city of Knoxville as they all try to heal from this brutality.
Shalom
Blessed Be
I agree with your message Aimee about what a tragedy it is what happened in Knoxville, TN. You ask why would someone do something like this, and say that you can't imagine living inside of a brain or heart that could do such a thing. You say this person is a sad and wasteful life. Working in the job you do I can imagine that you see people who have been hurt by other people all the time. People hurt people, physically and emotionally, and for some people that hurt just builds up. People are raped, abused, molested, held down, ridiculed, trapped in very narrow thinking. Who of us knows what is going on inside of someone else's head. Who has hurt them? Who has misunderstood them? Who has made them into the person that they have come to be? How often do we hear - we would have never expected that behavior from that person; they were so kind; active in the community; a good family person ... things do build up and sometimes I believe that the aloneness and darkeness becomes just too much and people snap.
ReplyDeleteTo me, a sad life yes, but a wasteful life no. We have seen this happen over and over in recent years. The Amish Girls School shooting (which broke my heart), the college shootings, school shootings, disgruntled employee shootings.
If a person can look so normal, or on the other side, can give such blantant warnings that are just ignored, and then finally just snap, I look at that as very sad. I feel terrible for the victims and families, but also for the peretrator. What have they been living with? What has been bothering them? Why has this rage built up? Who misunderstood them?
Not to me a wasted life, but a life that needed to be healed. A very hurt life that has lost hope.