I don’t want to write about this again, but I can’t think of much else. Today.
Here in Ohio, it happened again. Another mass shooting, this one in my hometown of Dayton, Ohio. Ten people dead, and 27 injured.
It took place in the Oregon District, a place I have been to a countless number of times in my life. The first house I owned was just a mile or so away from the very spot where the shootings occurred. I used to stop by there for a drink, or more, on my way home from work, every night. Regardless, we’ve all been there before, in our own communities. Near our own back doors.
The motive, at this point, is unknown. But does it matter? Really?
What matters is that it happened again, and we are standing by watching. Wringing our hands. Shaking our heads. I’m not sure what a common Joe, like you or I, can actually do about this. My best guess is that we try to vote in the direction of stopping this. If we feel this is a priority.
So for now the prayer vigils begin. And the pile of flowers, and stuffed animals, and balloons, will mark the spot. People will visit and pay respects.
Then. The vigils will disperse. The balloons will lose their air.
And so will the discussion about this shooting. It will just become another statistic.
Our country will still bow to the long shadows cast by the Second Amendment. An amendment written in a time when British soldiers were coming ashore and threatening the birth of a new nation.
Today, in this case, the threat comes from our own citizens. Bearing arms.
Today, we lost another battle.
Today, we simply lost.
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“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” —Saint Francis de Sales
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“It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
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“When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.” —Jimi Hendrix
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