There's been a maelstrom of news stories regarding children killing others on their school campuses of late. Young people are bringing guns and knives to school and are killing, either in cold blood or by accident, their teachers and friends.
Now, I don't know about you but I was raised with a BULLY (two of them actually). The biggest bully in my life was the same person whom I had to return home to, again and again. Yet, even after each beating and every verbal attack, I never once contemplated murder. Rather, there was adoption (by Huey Lewis and Madonna, no less!) to fantasize about as well as the option of running away (which I did, three times.) And, forgive me oh heavenly Saint, but I am sure I may have, on one occasion or two, prayed for early deaths - either mine or theirs. But violent fantasies of blood shed and gore? It just wasn't in my lexicon.
Now I know I am not special. For one, I am surrounded by peers who were also raised in highly dysfunctional families in which addiction and rage blew like a common breeze. They, too, are still tending to the wounds of their most primal upbringings while also questioning how to co-create something harmonious. And, I really don't beelieve the world is all that different of a place today than it was last century - yes, there are more people on the planet and yes, we have easier access to mind-boggling media and senseless imagery but people remain, for the most part, inherently good. So, what then is driving our children - our most precious youth - to kill?
Don't say cyber-bullying or violent entertainment, please. Taking our kids outside and away from the screens is the easiest option available to us. We can do this right now, at any moment. We can just stop - and tend to the gardens of our children's , as well as our own, Spirits. And I'm not talking about church - unless it actually has a garden. I am talking about the places and spaces where we can be free and joyous, embodied and playful, loving and in touch - with ourselves, each other and planet Earth.
All too soon, some backwoods politician will suggest, "I recommend that all American children pass through metal detectors upon entrance to their schools and that we then lock the doors behind them," and we the people, tired and weary from so much time spent not feeding our deep hunger for real time connection, will simply jump on yet another nationalistic bandwagon to hell. The loss of our civil liberties requires little effort - meanwhile, the energy it requires to shift the direction of all of this is great. Still, passing on jail - for my children, as well as myself - is always my choice.
What's yours?
I contend that our children are killing each other, themselves and us because of:
-a lack of understanding the dire consequences of our direct actions. They are, after all, being raised in a culture that refuses to acknowledge the reality of global warming while a 24/7 365 days/year marketing machine idolizes mass consumption and allows the loss of sacred life to be dismissed casually, without remorse or regard.
-the breakdown of community, the loss of a sense of beelonging and the continued fragmentation that "family" endeavors.
-and the narcissistic Individuality that social media perpetuates.
Now that we have some awareness of the problem, SOLUTIONS ARE SIMPLE. You can create your own right there in your own neighborhood - let's make the Olympics a community activity that happens every summer;
let's create our own "American Idol" competitions amongst our neighbors;
let's grow food and break bread together;
let's all pray in whatever way feels right to each of us individually as our children are encouraged to walk around, ask questions, try different ways of beeing on, all the while they are beeing fervently loved and shown that they know how to listen to the unique stirrings of their own hearts and that they are always equipped to make the perfect, most harmonious decisions for themselves - no matter how different from our choices these are.
We can do this, friends. It won't bee easy and it requires us sacrificing what we "think" is good for us. And that's the thing, we have to let go of our heads - for our future's sake.
