I've been taught exercises to build strength and balance, which is why I now walk an imaginary tightrope daily.
I've blogged about my falling journey, if you can call it that.
And, I've blogged about why, regardless of age we must all be concerned about falling.
We were taught how to help someone who has fallen, or what to do if we, ourselves, fall.
But, due to something tragic in the United States that happened Wednesday night, I must talk today about a different kind of falling. A National fall.
In a way, it's like our United States has fallen and can not get up. There have been so many tragic events in the past few years that I can't even name them all, but the names resonate with all Americans. Not necessarily in order, since President Obama took office in January of 2009:
Fort Hood. The American Civic Association ( the tragic mass murder in the city of Binghamton, New York not far from where I work-14 dead in an adult education classroom). Tucson, AZ at a meeting of some citizens with their United States Congressperson. Aurora, at a movie theater. A Wisconsin Sikh temple. Newtown, CT at an elementary school, which included a casualty (the school psychology) from our area. Washington Navy Yard. Ft. Hood (again). Isla Vista, CA. And Wednesday night: Charleston, South Carolina.
Nine dead, one a state senator, after a racially motivated shooting at a Bible Study class at a historic black church not far from two places I have stayed in.
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| Unitarian Church, Charleston (the Holy City) one of many, many churches |
My beloved Charleston, the Charleston I blogged so much about in April for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, the Charleston that calls itself the Holy City because of all the churches that line its skyline, the Charleston now known for our latest mass shooting. Think of Charleston today, I ask, and the sorrow of the families affected and all those who live in that area.
Yesterday, when I woke up to the news, I cried. At lunch, I cried some more. But tears won't help.
Time after time after time, and we can't break the cycle. We lie there, and we cry, and we just don't know how to get up.
Where is the falling class for us? How can we break the cycle of hate and violence?
I love the new look of your blog (I haven't visited it for quite a while!)
ReplyDelete-Your fall prevention course sounds interesting.
Alana this post really resonates. The hatred and anger and violence in this country is so insidious. It's like a national disease. We cant seem to go more than a few months without some sort of malicious mass shooting of some sort or another. As a mother, I often ask myself what kind of world I've brought my children into. As a former teacher, it was heartbreaking to look into the eyes of my first graders the year of the Sandy Hook massacre, and trying to assure them that they're safe and secure. Charleston was a place I blogged about several times. I love the city for so many reasons. I even took pictures in front of Emanuel. My heart is with the families of the victims. As a nation, the United States has so much healing to do. The deep roots of racism and religious hatred are so very much alive. We've come so far as a country, but not so far at the same time.
ReplyDeleteOther nations have clearly shown us how to get up. You start by taking guns out of the equation, making them unavailable to the general public. As long as the politicians who rule are in thrall to organizations like the NRA, I am afraid we will never get up. We refuse to use common sense in the matter and we suffer the consequences. Over and over again.
ReplyDeletePowerful post, Alana. I don't thing the USA is alone in falling. All around the world, bad things are happening. If we can't fix it, best not to dwell on what's happening. All we can do is influence the people around us, either in body or spirit. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Francene. I don't think our United States is going to fall apart in my life time.
ReplyDeleteI'll say we need to do some repairs and in which priorities, I can congress can argue about that.
I don't believe the world is coming to and end. I know I'll up sit a few "There no such thing as a second coming"...Coffee is on
So many issues. Stupid children who take out their "issues" with a gun pointed at other people. Alienation. Gun laws. Racial issues. And when someone tries to do something about preventing the next one, people wail about their "freedoms" being stripped away.
ReplyDeleteIt's a mess.