Holiday Sorrow

Tragedies like the ones that occurred at Sandy Hook in Connecticut and at the Oak Creek Sikh Temple in Wisconsin will haunt us into the years that follow. We’ll remember these horrific events just as the Columbine incident and the 9/11 Terror Attacks.  It is one thing to lose a loved one to diseases that target physical health; we try to understand death in such a manner perhaps as the will of a supreme divinity or part of the natural cycle. Even death by accident is something we perceive to be an inevitable trap.  We console ourselves; we try to understand that life must go on, that we must regain some of our lost happiness. If not for the life in us, we live to give peace to the souls that have traveled far away.

“He wouldn't want to see you like this.” “She would want you to move on and be happy.” Are some of the instructions that help emotional wounds heal.

But when someone you care for is murdered, brutally and mercilessly by someone who has little control over their own sanity or judgment, it is hard to accept loss. It is hard to believe that one addled mind has robbed you of the smiles you probably never counted until the reason behind them has disappeared into cremation smoke or beneath a mound of fresh dirt. 

My heart goes out to the survivors of all these terrifying occurrences. I hope you will be able to fill the gaps in your hearts with noble and meaningful missions. I wish you peace and gold-encased memories. I pray for love and harmony to surround us all.