All These Feelings

I am all too familiar with the cascade of emotions after the horrific events of Sunday morning. The grief, the sadness, the overwhelming feeling of despair. Everything about it is all too familiar. The lone shooter, innocent victims, inconsolable families and friends, and the easy availability of semi-automatic weapons. And we are still doing the same thing - nothing. I thought something would change, my God, something would have to change after a lone, deranged killer shot up an elementary school, killing children. Children! I thought, "Well, that's it. Americans won't stand for this. They will rein in the NRA and some sensible gun laws will follow." But, no. Not even then. What the hell. And here I am, with all these feelings.
When I first heard about the carnage in Orlando, I was sickened, horrified. I felt that wave of unrelenting sadness that washes over us when we hear about yet another mass shooting. Where do you go with that kind of grief? How do relieve that level of pain? I went to my spiritual center, then I went to my Spiritual Center, Vision. How comforting it is to be among like-minded individuals who hold each other aloft. It is a safe space into which we can pour our grief and share our heartbreak. I went to the LGBT Center the next day, where hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil. It is another safe space to pour out one's pain and be held close. We walk through this together. All these feelings. I've heard that joy shared is multiplied and sorrows shared are lessened, I'm not sure about that, but it felt good to be among others who shared my pain.
So, now I'm pissed. And the same questions come up. Where do I go with these feelings? How do I relieve this level of outrage? I feel so helpless to change things, and I think that's where the anger comes from. How can we stand by day after day, week after week, month after month and watch as the tally of mass shootings steadily rise? I know it is a complex issue, I know there is no "one-size-fits-all" answer. I recall the quote by H.L. Mencken, "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong." But I also know that to do nothing is an answer we can no longer afford. At Vision, we are reminded that faith without works is dead. We are to pray and move our feet. We know that we are the arms and legs, feet and hands of Spirit in action. And that's the key, action. Spirit can only do for us what it can do through us, so we must move. What that means to you, you must decide. Pray first, then, I'm not telling anyone what to do, but do a little something to make a difference. If that means an email to a politician, a phone call to representative, a letter to Capitol Hill, whatever it is, it will make a difference. It helps us with all these feelings. I know it is a complex issue and I know we have to start somewhere, make one decision, address it one phase at a time, do one thing that can lessen the chance of this happening ever again. We simply cannot do nothing and keep reliving all these feelings.