It will always be alarming news when murder occurs under the same roof as the education of children. And well it should be. This is a horrifying reality.
It doesn't matter that I no longer live in Nebraska, and it doesn't matter that Omaha is over 2 hours away from where I grew up. That is still my community. That is still my home. I willingly choose to bear the weight of acknowledging and feeling the injustice and horror of such an event. I think any of us would.
After I watched the news report, I realized the shooting occurred at the same high school a good friend of mine attended, the administrator killed today most likely known by him. I realized the church directly beside the school, where parents waited for several hours for their children to be released to them from the school in lock down, is the same church my good friend currently serves, his day most likely filled with emotion and exhaustion from caring for anxious parents. I sent him a couple texts, to let him know that he and the community are in my thoughts and prayers.
Though miles removed, I feel very connected to what happened in Millard, NE today. My heart feels for all those affected.
Today at school a co-worker read me a nola.com headline and we discussed it for no more than 4 minutes. I wouldn't have remembered the conversation if not for this news report from Nebraska tonight. This afternoon in New Orleans a man was shot and killed less than two miles from my school.
Ironically, the two shootings happened within minutes of each other.
Tonight I'm embarrassed at the difference in feeling I had in response to these two events. As I first realized the dichotomy, I caught myself justifying my response, "But this happens here all the time."
May I never think of a life so flippantly.
I guess certain backdrops make murder more striking. It is a most unfitting event to have happen within the supposedly safe confines of a school. But the urban setting of one of the most dangerous cities in the country? I guess murder is a little more camouflaged here.
I acknowledge the differences in these two situations, but at the end of the day a life was taken as the result of violence. That's probably something I should feel regardless of the setting.
Because no matter who or where, it matters.
From nola.com:
"Word apparently spread about (his) death after a friend coincidentally drove by the scene and recognized the car. A short time later, (his) family began to show up, including his father, who slowly collapsed on the road near the car and began to weep."
Father, I apologize to you tonight, for so flippantly considering the loss of your son. But I also tell you that I now willingly choose to bear the weight of acknowledging and feeling the injustice and horror of what happened today. Because you are my community. This is my home.
