This post is not about the war raging in Ukraine.
Yes, there is plenty of death and destruction happening there.
Ukraine is to be commended for holding off Russia for as long as it has.
It feels awkward though – embarrassing even – that the U.S. and other countries have not entered the fray to defend the smaller nation against the aggressor world power.
We are providing weapons to try to balance the tables.
But we don’t want to be drawn into a 3rd World War.
This time it would most likely be nuclear.
There would be no winner.
And so we sit on the sidelines and watch.
Death and destruction raining down from the skies upon the Ukrainian people.
Russia is not playing by conventional rules of war.
It is bombing escape routes designated for civilians.
It is bombing hospitals and schools.
It is bombing bomb shelters.
No place is safe.
No one is safe.
But that is war.
And this post is not about the war raging in Ukraine.
It’s about a weekend filled with shootings.
Right here in the good ol’ U.S. of A.
Innocent people just going about their daily business.
Then shots ring out.
It happened in too many places this weekend to mention them all.
Yesterday in was in front of a nearby Sheriff’s Office.
Right there in the parking lot.
A Deputy was killed.
The shooter is dead too.
“A good guy with a gun.”
Until they aren’t.
More often than not, they are mentally and emotionally unbalanced people in possession of unnecessary firepower.
Guns designed, not for hunting and pleasure sports.
Guns specifically designed to kill human beings.
The news broadcasts report the tragedies.
Another shooting.
Just another shooting.
Senseless loss of human lives.
This weekend was a never-ending stream.
The media decided to focus on one.
An intentional, racially-motivated attack.
Ideas propagated by far-right media and politicians.
Meanwhile, the media hides behind the First Amendment.
Meanwhile, our political leaders and judiciary cower behind a mistaken reading of the Second Amendment.
Meanwhile, no one is held accountable.
And so we wait for the next time.
And we hope it is not us.
Lord have mercy on our souls.
For we all bear some responsibility for the state of our world.
