Prayers are not enough

Recovering from Pennsylvania

By John Strand

jas@hpr1.com

Holy shit, America! Is this a path we want to stay on? Is this the tipping point or brink we’re at? Is it a sign of more to come, or a come to Jesus moment where we decide enough is enough?

The unbelievable reality that a 20-year-old kid would decide to take a semi-automatic long rifle and attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a political rally in Pennsylvania yesterday is stunning beyond words. Thank God he missed by a mere few millimeters, yet he grazed the GOP presidential frontrunner’s ear.

We all got to see this. Over and over. Doubtless our history books are unfolding new and unexpected chapters. Yet we all know how much worse it almost was.

What on God’s green earth would possess a young adult to attempt such a murderous plot? How could any differences of opinion in any way justify or rationalize such an attempted murder? And the poor, unfortunate people who were hit by other bullets, two critically injured and one killed.

Shortly after this attempted assassination, the world began to in unison ask for prayers for former President Trump and the other victims. Millions watched in utter shock as the live spectacle unfolded. For a moment, we perhaps were unified again, in disgust.

Next, the prayers multiplied, to countless others impacted and affected, directly or indirectly. Then, as a natural course, we together seemed to pray for our country.

It’s no secret our political discourse has gone toxic. The outright hatred otherwise ordinary people spew seems to be an everyday occurrence. It’s palpable. And it’s relentless.

It’s also no surprise that we have a culture that has pretty much opened the floodgates so that there are guns virtually everywhere. And it is to be expected that people don’t always exercise the self-discipline to not allow disagreements or arguments to escalate into gun battles.

Has it become a simple go-to tool to settle things once and for all, or something like that? How utterly short we in those moments fall from our human potential. And the consequences are beyond comprehension.

These behaviors are not much different for individuals than for groups when acting in concert. We fight to the death instead of negotiating.

But back to the present moment and the attempted assassination of Donald Trump on the eve of the National Republican Convention starting this week in Milwaukee. Thank God our nation was spared the brutal death of a candidate for public office, in this instance the highest office in the land. Thank God!

Because in America, it’s through discourse and debate that we resolve our differences. It’s through the voice of the people at the ballot box that we discern our future courses of action. And by agreeing to disagree that we’ve come this far in the country’s short, yet enviable position in the world.

But we could very well have been in an entirely different place, had that shooter killed Donald Trump as intended. Therein perhaps lies the miracle of hope we can all appreciate.

Knowing how close we all came to an absolutely cataclysmic turning point in our country’s history, wouldn’t you think we could see the inevitable and obvious choices that will, moment by moment shape our future, indelibly?

So, let’s choose to stop, ok? Let’s decide enough already. Let’s collectively say we’re through and we will not allow ourselves to self-destruct as we’re seemingly so close to doing: each of us, individually and all of us, collectively. We are who determines our directions and united posture.

We simply don’t need to go there when the opportunities present themselves. We can turn the other cheek. We can choose love over hate. We can if we so choose.

We also don’t need to reinforce destructive, negative energies from others. Yes, we can hear them, but then let’s be grownups and chart a course for the betterment of all.

The destruction of others is self-destruction. We recall a Chinese saying; if you go in

search of revenge, first dig two graves.

No matter where any of us lie on the political spectrum, there need not be room for hate and contempt, period. No matter who wins, that’s what America is all about, isn’t it, after all?

We’ve been spared a horrible trauma. The question now is, are we smart enough to do what needs to be done so that we as a country can again be united? We don’t see any choice in the matter. Do you?