Today I get to be “Uncle Josh”. I’m in Memphis with my brother, sister-in-law, and my nephew. We have been spending a few days together hanging out, having fun, and just spending some quality time together.
Yesterday morning when I heard the news about the tragic shooting in California I started thinking about my 8-month old nephew. I wondered what kind of world he is growing up in. I had to think about what I am doing to make the world a better place for him to grow up in.
My heart and my prayers go out to the victims, their families, the survivors, first responders, and everyone involved. I know that prayers don’t fix the heartbreak for those who lost loved ones, and prayers alone aren’t enough to keep something like this from happening again. However, it’s a good place to start.
When tragedies like this happen, it brings up a lot of strong emotions about how to solve these problems. There clearly aren’t easy answers to quickly fix the problem that everyone agrees to, or it would already be done. My prayer today is that I can start by examining my own life through prayer and self-reflection to see if there are ways that I can begin to make the world a more loving and just place. Then it is my responsibility to act on those ways. I hope you will join me today in finding ways that we can make the world better for little ones like my nephew.
