Interconnected

Seeing the names and ages of the twenty children aged six and seven years old whacks it right into your face. Then there are the names of the adults who, presumably were terrified and possibly trying to protect their charges, and their lives also brought to a sudden end.

An old blogging friend, Chandira, has written a short item Shooting today and astrology lesson which touches on some predictions of future upheavals and changes. When it involves actions like this it is all too scary and just not fair, on the other hand, it promises a clear out of the old and better things ahead with a better world order.

When I read something like that I wonder why the young innocent have to suffer? There is no rhyme nor reason that can justify it. We can weep for those involved and the family and friends. Beyond that, what can be done? We can scream and shout about gun laws and mental illness and the punishment system but really, what good would it do whilst one area is being tackled and someone determined slips through the net to create the impact they think they desire.

It would do us well for each of us to remember that we are interconnected, that we are not islands even though we may at times feel alone. To remember that what you and I say to the other person in our household does affect the wider world, and those thoughts that we think that are unkind do seep out and grow like cancers in all sorts of ways. No one is innocent in this and we all need to take a collective responsibility.

Our love does affect the next person and just one smile to a stranger can be remembered as a beacon of hope for years. I know because a bus driver once smiled at me as a child during some very tough times and that kept me going. Sure we must look at gun laws but if people did not feel the need to pick up a gun in the first place to devastate others then there would be little need for the laws.

Chandira also talks about food additives and depression. Have I ever mentioned anything about vaccinations? And just yesterday my attention was drawn to some interesting ideas regarding eating patterns and the fact we are addicted to eating - we in the so-called richer world seem to live to eat rather than eat to live. So many things that we accept as gospel when it may well that however well meaning we arrived in that situation we are now firmly staying there because it suits this or that big business: the drug companies; the food industry; the Press and Media; and so forth.

This is bigger than just one person with a gun and if we all re-examined everything, were more open -minded, and less condemning of others then we have a chance.