If you haven’t been under a rock or become completely desensitized to “Breaking News” then you know Atlanta had an active shooter situation this week. Although the situation was several blocks from me, the fear of the unknown gripped me more than I could ever imagine. I would go as far as to say it changed my life.
Unless you’ve been in a similar situation and I pray you haven’t, you cannot imagine the fear of knowing that no matter what you do you are not safe. It makes your world come to a complete stop and makes you reevaluate life very quickly. It’s different than a medical emergency like a stroke or heart attack because there is someone a phone call away to help you but when there is an active shooter in your backyard, you have nobody to protect you. You depend on walls, locks, doors, and security systems at best.
It’s traumatizing, to say the least. And the level of fear for those with loved ones directly affected and children in school is in no way comprehended. At the moment all you can do is pray for protection but prayers only give you hope, prayers never make you believe you are invincible. God says he is “no respecter of persons”, which means he does not favor one person over another. He does not protect one and not another. There is no favor! We are all equal in his sight. I know I have a risk of being killed or dying just as much as anyone else.
It’s a scenario that happens daily https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-shooting in this country. It’s getting normalized like a car accident, like a traffic jam, like just another day. We are traumatized and desensitized. Do we have any idea what is happening to our children and young adults? How do we say, “I missed that news!” or “It happened again!” It is a mentally unstable person with a gun who can shoot whomever they want and nobody can stop them.
It’s not about fighting the person vs the gun. I don’t care if you blame the mentally unstable or the gun, the bottom line is it’s happening, it’s going to continue to happen and it’s only a matter of time before it happens to you, your mother, dad, spouse, child, grandchild or loved one. What are you going to do about it? There is no protection, no insurance, no prayer that can save you. Starting now, you are on the clock.
Dealing to Healing 