(I wasn't going to post this, but like you, my heart is heavy. And the words have to go somewhere.)
There is a brokenness all around us.
You can feel it. It’s palpable like a growth or a tumor. You try to talk about it, because you feel it to your core, but often find the topic of “brokenness” is met with resistance. Even thinking it means you are “old fashioned.” So you refrain from talking about this social tumor. You go about your business doing your best to ignore it.
You see others far more vocal. They want to fix the problem, too, but for all the talk of systemic issues, everyone still blames the instrument and not the operator. It’s always easier to blame the instrument. Get rid of the instrument used and the problem will suddenly disappear. That’s the thinking. Oh, that it were that easy.
But it’s not, because take away the firearms and the blades and the bombs and people will find a way to harm, even if it’s mowing down adults and children marching in a Christmas parade, killing 6 and injuring more than 60, 18 of which were children. Have we enacted new rules governing SUV's? No, of course not.
Because the real weapon here is brokenness. That’s what we’re fighting. Make no mistake. The brokenness opens the door to evil and evil, well, as Ian Malcolm says in Jurassic Park, “it finds a way.” It comes in every color, it doesn’t care about laws and legality, and it keeps getting younger. Children raised by social media: confused, anxious, entitled, angry, coddled, depressed and sad, unequipped with the tools to face adulthood.
Brokenness has become a culture in and of itself.
In Chicago, more children have been the victims of gun violence in 2021 than have died from Covid across the ENTIRE country.
More than 261 children. (The report I read had statistics up until September 2021. With a quarter of the year still to come, the actual number is higher.) Over Labor Day alone, 62 people were shot in Chicago, including 8 children. One little boy was only 4. He was killed while getting his hair done in an apartment.
I marvel at Chicago. We recoil in disgust and shock when tragic events hit our newsfeed, but another 28 people shot in Chicago this past weekend? Yeah, no big deal.
And we slap one another on the back and label our brokenness as “progressive.”
There is no wrong. There is no shame. There are only agendas and enlightened individuals trying to shut the mouths of those ignorant masses who drone on about the breakdown of family and common sense. How dare they. Jesus freaks.
But the thing is, we can’t fix the problem until we fix the brokenness. And you don’t fix brokenness until you acknowledge the brokenness.
Brokenness doesn’t care if a weapon is illegal; it will get it and use it anyway. I mean, hell, fentanyl and meth are illegal, but that doesn’t stop it from being used non-stop in our city streets. Whole tent neighborhoods brimming with needles and pills and filth and lives forever lost to illegal substances. It’s not a stretch to realize people intent on carrying out illegal activities aren’t too concerned with breaking the law. Yeah, go ahead—pass another law. Brokenness doesn’t care. It will break THAT ONE, too.
But acknowledging the brokenness means making tough calls. Nobody wants to be the guy or gal accused of not caring. So, the brokenness is promoted as virtue so everyone can feel good. And our broken kids turn into broken adults—their perspective skewed and lacking the ability to handle adversity. See also: safe spaces.
We indulge the brokenness, blame the instrument, politicize everything, and nothing changes.
There are no words. Where does the brokenness start. I don't know. Who's broken? I don't know that either. I only know my heart is broken at the terrible losses in Texas. I just.....can't imagine....
I just defriended someone on Facebook (she said for anyone to defriend her who didn't agree with her - not a problem) who believes that abortion rights were part of the key to "mental health" in avoiding school shootings. Oh the irony.