Observations from the weekend

I feel I can't let a post today be anything but about what happened in the early morning hours of last Friday. It was and is a tragedy. It is heart breaking. It is difficult to think about. What would cause a person to do such a thing? 


But I also can't help but think about the 10,000 plus people that have been killed in Syria in the past few months. Or the unknown number of people starving in North Korea, either in their villages or in prison camps. The list could go on, but it doesn't need to. 


So many tragedies, so many seemingly senseless deaths. I daily look at my news sources and read about how 200 more people were killed in Syria that day, and my heart goes out to them. Then I forget about it. Come Friday morning when we woke up to hear about the Colorado shooting, things become different. It is different when it happens here, in the US. Mass shooting rampages and other attacks just don't happen here. 


We stare at the picture of the shooter and speculate what was going on in the months leading up to the event. We argue about the need for tougher gun control laws. We post that our prayers and thoughts are with those in Aurora, CO.  


But it is equally heartbreaking, if not more so, to hear that thousands of people, many of them women and children, are being killed in other nations. However, I don't see that on Facebook. Regardless of what should or should not be done politically, it is not something talked about in day-to-day life.


I don't have a solution. I know we gravitate and pay attention to things that are more relevant to us, that are closer in proximity to us. It's what we do as a society. However, I have been reminded that my prayers should also be with all of those around the world, not just those in our country.


Again, no grand solution on my part to these issues. I don't mean to downplay what did happen on Friday, either. Just food for thought. If you have any thoughts on this issue, feel free to share.