As I sit at my desk thinking about the horrible news of the Las Vegas mass shooting, I can’t seem to compose the words to convey my thoughts. Since we are all friends and have formed a bond through this blog, I am just going to share my random emotions and reactions to the events of the past days.
We’ve already seen the political experts coming out of the woodwork to blame everyone in this country for what happened. I just cringe at people using an event of complete horror as an opportunity to advance their career. Finding fault seems to override all issues.
In the upcoming weeks, we will have a full analysis from all angles, but it won’t erase the heartache of families across the country—and around the world—who woke up to bad news regarding their loved ones yesterday. It won’t stop the tears of pain and sorrow. It won’t undo what has happened.
Early in my life, I would have never even given thought to mass shootings, cars running over hundreds of people (last week and months before), and children harmed in schools or anywhere for that matter. What can we do? Can we even make any difference at all?
One Bible passage comes to my mind from Proverbs 3:5–6:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
There is no understanding any of this. All we can do is trust in the Lord. To those of you who have been personally affected by this and other tragedies, you have a group of people on this blog who are lifting you up in prayer.
I already read about the young couple from Tennessee who attended the concert. The husband was killed protecting his wife. Other accounts similar to this will unfold in the days ahead, and our hearts will break all over again. What can we do?
First of all, we can make sure those in our lives know we love them. We must tell them constantly. Love is the greatest gift we can give anyone, and it will make a difference in their lives.
Second, know where your children are and who they are with always. Be overprotective—there is nothing wrong with it.
Third, we can also be proactive in watching things around us. If you see something that doesn’t look right or is maybe a little suspicious, say something. You never know how an action this simple could change a potential outcome.
Lastly, pray for peace in our world. I want my grandchildren to know the country I grew up in where neighbors helped each other, friends were loyal, and you could play on the playground and be safe. Maybe those days are gone, but I pray not. We can pray for hearts to be softened and for people to know that they have worth.
Hug tighter today, love deeply, and pray for peace in the hearts of our fellow man.
Comments 45
Thank you for saying what I was going to say!
Phyllis, thank you for not being afraid to share your faith in our Lord. You said it so well.
Dear Phyllis,
Thank you for sharing so deeply and so personally, and for giving coherence to all of our thoughts.
We need to pray. We need God. I think God’s trying to get our attention. These events are heart breaking.
Because we have kicked GOD, out and people live how ever they want and when bad things happen to them they blame GOD, instead of themselves. I’m sorry for all those lives lost and those left behind comming to grips has to be hard they will never forget it ever. Until GOD, is restored in each person and back into our counrty nothing will change..
I agree!
Thank you for sharing your faith!
Prayer is a gift that we can freely give.
Dear Phyllis,
I have followed your blog long enough to know you are an amazing Christian woman. I want to thank you for your boldness in writing this. I agree with everything you said. Yes, we join you in prayer for all those lost and those who have lost loved ones.
Thank you Phyllis for sharing your heart and faith with us. As I read through the comments, I am moved to tears to know that there so many women of faith reading this blog. May God protect us and fill us with his hope and peace. God bless us all.
Well said, my friend.
Your words were spoken perfectly– I could not have done any better !
I thank you for simply saying them to us all……….
More prayers to all who cling to them.
Beautifully written. Thank you.
Dearest Phyllis,
Ditto to everything you posted. It is a sad time and turning to prayer, our friends and especially our loved ones is the way to find some comfort. Let us love one another. Let us comfort each other in this tread of shared thoughts. Here we can find some good to think upon. Thank you Phyllis.
Love always…
While reading your beautiful words regarding such ugly recent events, I thought, “He gives beauty for ashes…”
Thank you for bringing beauty for ashes to so many who are hurting.
October is the month of the most Holy Rosary (the life of Christ prayed in each prayer prayed and mediated upon) will be prayed for all families. The family that prays together stays together.
Thank you for your eloquent comments and your witness. Continuing to pray for those in sorrow and for a brighter tomorrow.
Thank you for sharing from your heart today and for pointing us to God. He is our only hope.
May God bless you for expressing what so many of us feel. Thank you so much. I’ve been reading your magazine for many years, and have read your blog for a long time. Now I feel that I know your heart and that I’ve made a new friend.
Phyllis, thank you for sharing your heart-felt message. My prayers are for all those who have had to personally endure this horrific tragedy!
Well said, Phyllis and all dear Ribbon Friends…
“May the Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, …guard your hearts and minds…”
__Philippians 4:7
Phyllis, Yes, I too believe love is the greatest gift we can give our loved ones and to a stranger in need in the most difficult and dangerous of times. Thank you, and I share in your thoughts
and prayers. God Bless, Carmel
Very well said, Phyllis. Your words were a bright spot in an otherwise less than bright day. We must trust in the Lord.
I am so profoundly saddened as I see the faces of those who have lost their lives on the news.
They just wanted to enjoy the music at the concert. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around all of this.
I pray for all the families that were touched by this selfish ,senseless act!!
God help us, we are becoming a nation that thinks good is evil and that evil is good. When having no consequences to your actions you start to believe you don’t have to think before you speak or that you don’t need to respect your neighbor, teacher, or friend. The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts. The social media is responsible for much of this. God help us. Pray for wisdom to accept Him who gives life eternal. May those harmed by this evil receive His peace that passes all understanding.
Our hearts are broken, the recent events are so hard, if not impossible to understand. But we must remember that Our Lord is in charge, we are loved and must depend upon and lean on the Good Shepherd. May the souls of the faithful departed Rest In Peace. And may those who have been injured find peace and healing in the loving embrace of our Lord Jesus
Respect should be taught. All of the commandments are so simple to understand and keep. We were all made in God’s image so we should try not to see differences.
Keep love in our hearts and help whenever we can. Just love one and other.
The hardest thing we have to do is to forgive. Sometimes it takes us awhile but we can forgive.
God bless all of you in your trying to understand and forgive.
Thank you saying what so many of us are feeling. We live in a world that is like nothing I could imagine in my childhood. I pray every day that we would let go of the hate & learn to love & respect one another.
Very well said Phyllis. I too yearn for days like my childhood. My pregnancies never came easy…so having my children later in life…grandchildren are not in the near future with both of them in grad school. Sometimes I wonder if I would be sad if they told us they have chosen not to bring children into our unstable world. Sounds cold wording it that way, but it is so difficult to explain to children. God hear our prayers.
I ,too , have great difficulty composing my thoughts into words to convey how I feel . There have been so many tragic events in recent times and it does not seem to end . When and why did our carefree,happy lives take this turn ? I fear for my children and grandchildren . I doubt they will know the carefree,simple and wonderful life of my youth . I am so saddened what I see and witness so frequently . If only we could turn back the hands of time…
Unity , peace , respect for all, love and prayer . Why are these basics so hard for people to grasp ?
Prayer is desperately needed in our materialistic society .
Thank you , Phyllis and dear fellow readers of this blog .
Thank you Phyllis. You said the rift things.
Well said, Phyllis. The power of prayer!
The reasons for this horrific tragedy may never be fully known. In truth, the reason is that a human being chose a path of outrageous evil to rob others of their lives. For those who do survive, they and their families have a very, very difficult life ahead. We are responsible to pray and ponder why these insane things continue to take place throughout the world. The honest truth is that individuals now live each by their own moral code, not believing in consequences for their actions. We who understand justice as explained in the Bible, have an enormous responsibility to take a stand against evil…no matter how small or large. The popularity contest does not apply to those who want their lives to count for Christ. Let something positive come out of Las Vegas…….stand tall for goodness and what is right…….speak up….warn others of the consequences of bad decisions. Pray seriously and always believe that God will give you courage for the battle.
It breaks my heart to think of all the hate that so many people carry around., They see no value of human life.We are so blessed to live free in a country that offers so much to so many different people. Some days I look around and see no children playing, I see young ones in church without their parents, I see parents out having fun without any thought that they need to be home spending time with their family, their children. I wonder what happened to the days where family members came first, your neighbors were like family, people stopping to say hello and we just loved being happy. But instead there is anger that you don’t have “things” instead of being thankful for what we have been given. It’s time that we all stop and give thanks to God for not turning his back on us. It is my hope that people stop living their days on Facebook, going to movies where the language is dirty but accepting, being there for their children, being an example for them and letting them know they are loved, putting their phones down and turning off the TV and reaching out to their family and friends. We need to be grieved to the depths of our hearts over this tragedy in Las Vegas . We need to stop and pray for these families and be thankful that we still have ours. Until people get back to being loving friends and families, our lives are missing the beauty of all that is around us everyday. Will our children and grandchildren have a better life? I don’t thing so. As these killings continue, I fear they will never live in the world I grew up in. We have to get God our hearts and lives and spread his love to everyone who crosses our paths. It’s time to start, today. May God continue to bless us even when we fall short of his commands. Thanks Phyllis for your words. They are so needed right now.
Phyllis, Thank you for your poignant post and reflections. I too worry about what kind of world my children and grandchildren will live in. However, as you have so eloquently stated we need to turn to the promises in our scriptures and of course pray. Ours is a great country! We also have more good people than bad and together we can make a difference.
Very touching and thoughtful post. Thank you for your sharing your words of wisdom.
From my heart ,what is needed here is Jesus. We need God back in school and remembering to love one another. We should focus on our similarities, not our differences. Thank you for starting this conversation, God bless us every one
Thank you for voicing what we are all feeling. This is yet one more heartbreaking episode in a world that is unrecognizable. Turning to prayer and God is the only way to cope as we walk through these horrendous episodes. My heart breaks for all of those attending the concert and families affected as well as first responders. Your words have brought me comfort, thank you once again.
Thank you so much for your words of encouragement and prayer. How I pray that more people would heed the words “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Perhaps we need to pray more fervently for a change in the hearts of all to avoid future acts of hatred and violence that affect all of humanity.
Amen
Thank you for saying it so well. God bless.
I sit here reading your post, and once again my eyes fill with with tears. I cannot imagine the horror of hearing that one of your loved ones had been killed or actually being there and trying to protect a spouse, a loved one, a friend, and as the one young man, dying in the process or not having been able to save that other individual.
All of yesterday, the one thought that kept occurring to me over and over, was that families, friends, neighbors need to put their petty grievances aside, their supposed slights (perhaps from many years ago) and come together instead to love each other and to heal. We must bring back as much as possible the days of our own youth and be neighborly, give all that we have to each other in times of need. Families used to spend so much time together, over Sunday dinner, a family reunion, playing in the yard, going to church. Now most of that has passed away, and that is at the root cause of much of the hate in the world, causing these mass shootings and killings.
I agree with you Phyllis, when you say “be overprotective of your children”, report something that does not seem right> But most of all “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Prayers and love for all!
Thank you for those words of wisdom. I cried as I read your remarks, and especially with the scriptures that brought comfort to my heart. I long for a world where there is peace and love for all human kind. I love the scripture you quoted, Proverbs 3:5–6, which does teach us to trust in the LORD with all our hearts, and not lean on our own understanding. I trust that God will comfort the hearts of those who have lost loved ones through this tragedy.
Beautifully said. Thank you for offering comfort, prayer and encouragement as we move forward on this journey together. I so enjoy your writings each day. Savor life.
Amen – And thank you for this lovely post. I believe you very well said what is in the hearts of everyone.
Blessings to you and yours,
Sandra
Amen
Amen