If you knew that you could have prevented the Sandy Hook shooting and saved 20 children’s lives would you have done it?
If you knew that $1,000.00 would have prevented the tragedy and saved 20 kids lives would you have found a way to give?
As my thoughts have been consumed with the CT tragedy and the grief stricken families I have been flooded with different emotions and overwhelmed by global realities.
I have been reminded again about how controlled our responses are by media. And at the same time how stuck in the sand our heads are about the realities of death and tragedy, and the loss of life in our world.
If 20 jumbo jets filled with children crashed today that would make the news and we would be filled with emotion and grief. Our politicians would be talking about airline regulations and prevention strategies. But because this many children didn’t die in a “tragic media worthy” way it goes virtually unnoticed that this many children die EVERY DAY due to something we can prevent… WATER!
We say we care about children and the loss of an innocent life and then we turn our head when the call to action comes and we change the channel… But when the “TRAGIC” happens we watch the horrific news all day.
PLEASE DON’T MISUNDERSTAND ME!
I am in no way minimizing the tragedy, the grief or the real suffering that is associated with the CT shooting. But instead of minimizing it I am trying to bring reality to the real grief of parents every 15 seconds. What makes a grieving non televised mother any different than one that was televised? To me it is a tragedy when a parent watches their child die from a water related illness. And probably the greatest tragedy of all is to know we could have prevented it and done nothing.
Part of what keeps our head in the sand is the magnitude of the tragedy. It is so big I can’t solve it and I feel overwhelmed by it so I ignore it. I’ve seen the pics, I’ve heard the story and honestly those kids are far enough away I don’t have to deal with it… But if those kids were Americans, or my neighbors I might feel more connected.
We react and respond to things that “hit closer to home”. Unfortunately this does not match our words to the value of life. Somehow the value goes up based on geography.
I’m not asking for everyone to solve the problem but for everyone to do something. Every $50 = water for life for a child.
So now let me ask the question again… If you knew you could prevent the tragic loss of 20 children’s lives would you?
What about the gift of life giving water for each member of your family?
What about one less Christmas gift for us and one more Christmas gift for a child who would simply love some water for Christmas.
What about honoring the lives of those children in CT by being a part of preventing the loss of more lives.
Every day I run I am reminded of these precious lives and I run harder for them.
I would love to help 20 more children in honor of the 20 children in CT. Who will help me?
Connections 