I just posted my thoughts last week and was just gonna veg today after scattering Robert’s ashes and listening to his entire interview with the Chinatown Rising people yesterday. He shared how the 1977 Golden Dragon massacre impacted his life, and it pained me to hear much of what he had to struggle with because he didn’t have counselors or therapists to talk to. As if the Buffalo shootings weren’t enough last week, there was another elementary school shooting in which 19 kids and 2 teachers were killed. When it rains, it pours, and it seems to keep pouring because hardly a week goes by when I hear about another mass shooting event. I’ve become somewhat numb to these mass shootings as sort of a self-protection mode to avoid a spiral into anger and depression…. Especially when I hear that parents have to give DNA samples so that their kids can be identified because their faces and bodies were so damaged by the gunfire… and then it’s followed up with an NRA convention in the same state, and Trump goes to speak… and the Secret Service didn’t allow guns at the NRA convention to keep HIM safe. Hypocrisy much?
Thankfully, I watched the First Chinese Baptist Church zoom recording from yesterday after the girls left this morning. I knew that they would talk and pray about the shooting and world events because they always do. They never ignore the elephant in the room. Still, I was caught unawares of the tears I shed when a cute little girl sang “You are my all in all” with her mother at the beginning of service. The song was beautiful, of course, but it was just the fact that 19 children like her were gunned down less than a week ago and are unrecognizable because of the bullets to their faces and heads.
Pastor Sebastian then followed up with a lament about gun violence which expressed my thoughts and feelings as well. Pastor Chris O gave a message on “Why Jesus Ascended” and tied it into “Why do these things happen? And what can we do?” The short answers are no surprise - Bad things happen because we live in a broken world (or as my daughters aptly put it, the world is effed up.) And what we can do is start with ourselves - We can do what we can do to help one person at a time, moving towards love, justice, peace and hope… and then work with other folks to help more people. Chris O said it in a much more compelling way and I recommend you watch her message here: https://fb.watch/dkHjusdXWj/
I will continue to help people as much as I can, as well as organizations who are trying to help in areas of social justice… and I will research areas in which I can help with gun culture and mental health. So far, this is the best article I’ve read to date with solutions, written by a former military gun owner. Basically he’d like to implement the NRA Rules into law. Just like drunk driving laws didn’t stop drunk driving, it does hold people accountable and slowly changed the drinking culture. We need to do the same thing with gun culture. In addition to this, mental health needs to be destigmatized so that people get help for themselves (and their kids) sooner as suicide by gun is very prevalent. I’ve been passionate about gun control laws since the Golden Dragon Massacre when Robert was shot and Calvin was killed. I was only 15 years old then, and had no idea why God would allow this then… just as I still question it now at the age of 60. But I’m now in the position and mindset to at least try to make a difference. I hope you will too.
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