Thursday, November 16, 2017
Elder of Ziyon
Dear people of Sutherland Springs,
I am writing to you, from Israel, to tell you that I see
you.
Half way around the world, with enough worries of our
own, it was heart-breaking to hear of the devastating shooting in your
community.
We know what it means to have our loved ones ripped from
us.
I see you. I see your pain. I see the children who no
longer have parents. I see the parents who yearn for their children but will
never again have the luxury of embracing them or reading them a bedtime story.
Who will watch other children grow up, knowing that theirs should be the same
age, be having similar experiences but, instead, are a memory, frozen in time.
I see the kids who want to play with friends who are no
longer alive. I see cousins, uncles, grandparents, friends who are left behind,
not knowing how to go on living when other family members, other friends are
dead.
I see gaping holes that can never be filled. Lives lost,
love lost.
And those who are left behind, injured in body, hurting
in soul. A community, like a person trying to get warm under a blanket only to
discover that the blanket is full of holes…
I see you.
An insane, sick murderer is not the same as the
ideological terrorists who attack us and yet, what is experienced by those left
behind, is very similar. We know your pain.
When people from abroad hear about attacks on my people
they often see agenda, not people. They see politics, not humanity. Similarly,
in your case, I saw the media jump on the issues of gun control, NRA and
religion, whether or not Stephen Willeford is a hero (he acted heroically, all
real heroes say that they are not heroes. Many, like Stephen, mourn those they
did not manage to save). Much focus is put on agendas and very little attention
to the people behind the headlines...
I am writing you to say that I see you.
I see decent, God fearing people, who just want to live
their lives the best way they know how – just like us. I see people who would
have preferred no one ever heard of their little town, if only they could have
their loves ones back – just like us.
I also see something else. I see opportunity.
You cannot control what happened to you. You do not have
the power to turn back time and undo this horror. But, at the same time you are
not powerless.
You have a power that seems lost to much of America. You
have love. You have each other.
While people who live in other towns and cities do not
know their neighbors, you already know yours well. You know how to look beyond
self-interest, beyond the walls of your own home, to reach out to help a
neighbor in need, to make your community a better, stronger, kinder place.
To you, We the People, still means something.
I am not writing to tell you how to deal with this
tragedy. From everything I have read about your community, I believe your
hearts and your faith will lead you to do what is right.
This horror will not divide you, instead it will make you
stronger.
While the gaps in your individual families cannot be
filled, it is possible to step closer to each other as a community. To be there
for those who no longer have the ones they wish were there. Parents who lost
children can do wonders for the children of others, children who no longer have
their parents. Friends can do amazing things for husbands and wives who no
longer have their spouse to rely on.
No murderer can break you. Only lack of love can do that.
I am writing you to say that your tragedy is also an
opportunity. By being who you are, you provide a shining light to the rest of
the Nation. My people are those commanded to be a “Light to the Nations.” We do
our best to fulfil this task by being the best we can be, by returning darkness
with light, by deliberately infusing happiness and positivity in the places
where our attackers tried to create sorrow and horror. By living and living
well, when others wish us dead.
You can do the same.
Today, the USA seems enshrouded by darkness, division and
anger. This makes America weak and a weak America makes the world more
dangerous (believe me, I know). I pray the people of America look to you and
remember what it means to be decent, regular folks who look out for each other.
This may just be the moment when you are the most
powerful you have ever been, could ever be.
Dear people of Sutherland Springs, I see you. I see your
pain and I see your light.
I pray for your injured to be healed, for your bereaved
to find comfort and that the people of America see what I see when I look to
you.
Blessings from Israel,
Forest Rain
