It's Grounds for the Good Guys to Carry Thing

Dear America,

"What good is it 

for a man to gain the whole world, 

yet forfeit his soul?"  

Mark 8:36

so  a couple of plain clothed Capitol police officers saved the day?

How is that for instant NRA support?  
As Senator Rand Paul reported, "we were like sitting ducks" and going on to add, "without the Capitol Hill Police it would have been a massacre."

my phone was going a little bizerk this morning -- with news alerts --  at an awfully early hour;
granted, being on the left coast, we are somewhat used to waking up with half the days news already moving on to the other half of the days news.

but this morning....

oh this morning....

Upon morning light, upon the first blink of the eyes, a shock wave moved through my body in ripples, offset with a nauseous tinge of contempt of my fellow man....well, make that one of them anyway.   Oh how far we have fallen, how far have we fallen.

According to all the reports --  the shooter asked whether the field of dreams, all for a good cause, were republican or democrat;  and immediately, the entire universe of my solar plexus began to curl up into the fetal position...it's like really!? Is that where we are, America?

oh, it's not the gun's fault.

Perhaps this is what we all deserve if we go on forfeiting America's soul, like we are.  And if that is too much for us to debate, then just maybe we could start 'here' -- with the basics --  and simply start telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, about things large and small, with all partisanship cast aside.

This gunman goes in the same category as another gunman  (although, the issue wasn't about being republican or democrat -- no, this one based his decision to shoot upon religion); if you were Christian, you were shot in the head.  The mainstream media pretty much dismissed all the itty bitty dirty details, but you can go to Jihad Watch, here, for the full story.

In case you have forgotten, nine souls died OCTOBER 1, 2015; go here to CNN for those details.

And yet, even as I write "those details," my heart sinks.  How can we honor a someone's whole life... someone's child, someone's soulmate, someone's sister or brother, and say "go here to CNN for those details."

Those details cannot be determined; for how can one quantify the things left undone, the life they were supposed to have, the dreams they were supposed to develop and mature and make manifest somewhere over the rainbow, in the place we shelter safely in our hearts, and simply call "someday."

oh, it's not the gun's fault

This quote -- at the start of today -- is from the Chapter of Mark, in the New Testament of the Bible;  when I finally got myself up out of bed and into my morning ritual of coffee in the window, this was where the good book opened.  In the margin was a date --  my usual custom -- recording a context of time and place and mental space at the time of reading the passage.  It said 10/16/2012.

And once again, feeling about to curl up into knots, the memory of that season in America came rushing in with such a rush, this girl got dizzy; the days co-mingled another American tragedy, the Benghazi terrorist attack which killed four Americans, and the upcoming 2012 election season.

Here's something to read -- from yours truly -- dated 10/16/2012: It's Narrative by the Nose Thing.

And here's something else to read -- from the Editors at National Review -- dated 6/28/2016:  What we do know about Benghazi demands a day reckoning.

....as America, almost seamlessly, moves from one made up narrative to another...where do we go from there is no there there to now here here...


And sure,
Benghazi has nothing to do with what happened today....directly.

But indirectly, what happened in the years between Benghazi and the election of 2016, counts as context; for make no mistake -- it was how the Obama Administration and it's State Department -- led by Hillary Clinton (and eventually replaced with John Kerry) --  responded to Benghazi, responded to illegal immigration, responded to Christian bakers and pizza makers being shunned for their beliefs, responded to Iran, that gave us an insane nuclear deal --  that ultimately led to an open door at the Oval Office, paving the way for the Trump Administration and welcoming a new era, uncharted territory really, in American politics.  All these things, and more, created the environment ripe for sudden, crazy, radical change, starting at The Executive Branch.

oh it's not the gun's fault

God love Bernie Sanders, who just a few moments ago denounced the actions of one of his former campaign volunteers.  A damning, scathing response is just another place to start:

"I am sickened by this despicable act. Let me be as clear as I can be: Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms. Real change can only come about through nonviolent action, and anything else runs against our most deeply held American values."

When I put my blog to bed yesterday, my intention was to go in the direction of how our nation's faith in God has been substituted with a deeper loyalty --  an allegiance to BIG GOV, the Rule of Law according to MAN, by MAN, and never you mind how America's origins were made and Divined.

Proof:  CULTURE deteriorating into a cesspool of mushy 'snowflakes,' flagrant lawlessness, no respect for human life, no respect for itself (the country), no respect for law itself,  and led by a government body equally corrupt in every possible way, generally speaking.

Where does the truth live anymore?  Does the truth even matter anymore?

Where does integrity have its being, if not firmly planted to impress upon every person it's essential purpose in living a life beholden to truth and goodness, from the inside out, individually and collectively?

Where does one turn to get a grip, when following rampant disregard for humanity -- be it at the hands of this shooter, or the Benghazi shooters, or the Umpqua college shooter, or the Sandy Hook shooter, or the Fort Hood Shooter, or the San Bernardino shooters, or the ORLANDO shooter (KILLING 49 souls.  God help us all.)

This morning, this girl can't help but notice all this shooting is being done at the hand of radicalized souls, one way or another.  And in the second thing -- not one of these shooters was a Christian.  That is just a fact.

This morning, 
This gunman,
This shooting,
Those details,
This quote,
This morning...

This day is marked by such disgrace, there are not words.

God bless Rep. Steve Scalise -- and his two, plain clothed, armed Capitol Hill guards, also wounded -- who, without this detail, HIS DETAIL, who knows how many souls would have died this morning at the hands of a sixty-six year old leftist radical -- the only soul who died.

The significance of this response, by the plain clothed armed Capitol Hill police officers does not go unseen; for the shooter cased the field, and seeing no uniformed police on the sidelines, he made the conscious decision to shoot everyone every republican he could see.

Surprise!  Two somebodies had a license to carry  -- and thankfully, by God's grace, they saved the day.  A couple of good guys had their own gun -- and even after being wounded, they managed to  respond with gunfire, with great courage, saving the lives of many. [And imagine, for just a moment, if Rep. Scalise wasn't even there; they were his dudes; it was his security detail who were packing the heat that made all the difference in the world.]


After the news spread in the aftermath, what did the other team do when the rampage was over?

THEY PRAYED.

Oh it's not the gun's fault.

It's GROUNDS FOR THE GOOD GUYS 

TO CARRY

This morning, this gunman, this shooting, those details, this quote, this blog, this response...it is finished; so let us close the day noting the one thing they all did that united the two sides of the same team:  THEY PRAYED.

I believe we can all do more of that.  Thanks be to God.

Make it a Good Day, G