As I was sitting in front of my brightly lit laptop early Friday morning, it was dark outside still in California. I was writing about all the beautiful ways my life had been lit that week and the optimism I had for this third weekend in December. We were planning baking and birthday parties, holiday shows and cheer. As I typed those words I was thinking about how grateful I am, how lovely life can be when you look at it through the eyes of my children, especially during the magical season of Advent. The light.
What I didn’t know was, at that exact same moment, children just like mine, at a school just like ours, were witnessing the most terrifying moments of their little short lives. Their families, friends and anyone connected to the Sandy Hook school community would have their lives changed forever at the very same moment I was basking in the light of mine. Those words from Friday’s post now seem so trivial after hearing about what happened in Newtown Friday morning. I cannot fathom what the teachers and children at that school were going through in those horrifying moments. Witnessing the darkest hour of their lives. The dark.
The light and the dark. Always in juxtaposition. The yin and the yang. Hope and Despair. Joy and Grief.
We must believe and remember in the light. Responding to senseless violence with compassion. Lending a shoulder to cry on, bringing a dinner to a family torn apart, praying and remembering the victims lost and the survivors in utter heartbreak. Recognizing with renewed commitment that we are all connected. Brother, sister, neighbor. As we approach the longest darkest day of the year, I plan to honor the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary, learn their names, and keep them with me. For they are just like me, they love and cry, laugh and sing, get angry and forgive. The light.
