WHY? WHY DID THIS HAPPEN

David Crabtree

Yesterday David Crabtree, an anchor newsman and a Deacon in my church, CHRIST CHURCH in Raleigh sent this to his Facebook account....  I was struggling with the WHY as we all do when something like this happens.  A thinking person goes through their cabinet of knowledge to try to make some sense of it all. 

When he posted this bit of wisdom..... my heart said YES.  I am motivated to try and figure out what I intend to do.

His post:

In the final analysis, the questions of why bad things happen to good people transmutes itself into some very different questions, no longer asking why something happened, but asking how we will respond, what we intend to do now that it happened.      

Pierre Teilhard de ou

Dante

I thought about my circle.  The people I know.  My influence is certainly not as great as it has been.  Once you become an old lady, somehow your, to some, becomes prattling and otherwise ignored.  It Hurts.  So what can I do.  Usually when I have volunteered with political groups, Church groups, and others.... I am now given the task of stuffing envelopes, etc.  I decided that probably the only way I can really do something is at home and with my fingers on my Blog.  I shall do that.  I will share.  I will not remain silent.  As many of you know, Silence has been a subject that I have shared my thoughts about for years.  So bottom line, I will not be silent.  Recently, I sometimes find myself  censoring things, especially in the Blog.  I ask myself if my high school friends would approve? how about my friends who are Republican, Democrat, Fundamentally Christian, Liberal Hollywood? Relatives.... Yep, all of these read my Blog.  So, I can start with being very honest in our opinions.  Not hurtful, but honest with explanation.  I have a responsibility to tell why I think what I think, and do what I do.  My most important legacy is to my grandson Sterling and my daughter Leah.  They have heard me over the years sometimes edited sometimes not.

I know many of you know that I am quite upset about the rise of Sarah Palin.  There are many strong republican women, and she was chosen.  Give me a break.  Even Megan McCain gives this time in her book.  However, when a shooting occurs can we blame her??  I think I blame the media more, certainly.  As a responsible politician some clear communication needs to take place.  What was she thinking when she announced the people she had in the "crosshairs"  Did she know that there was someone out there that would take that and act on it for her? I am sure she did not.   Is this what happened? It may well be failure of another system.  It may be because of our really bad media.  I am sure we will find out.  Freedom to speak is for everyone... certainly for Palin. and for me and you.

 It is all about silence vs speaking your opinion.  Balancing. 

I look back at my education at Duke, and Washington University. The encouragement given to us to speak our opinion almost scared me as an undergraduate. If I thought that was bad when I was working and going to graduate school I struggled to be politically correct and also say what I thought. In following my thread for today I am going back to my educational roots and speak out.

• When I speak I cannot be responsible for what any other human being does with what we say. 
• We need to say it anyway.
• When I speak I have a responsibility to be clear.
• It is difficult sometimes, and may take some time.
• When I speak I need to not censure myself, but we need to think before I speak to make sure I am  saying what I mean.
• Bite your tongue, my grandmother used to say. I add: But don't bite it forever, just until you are sure you are communicating well your opinion and thoughts
• I will seek out groups to discuss, add to our own knowledge, and to debate issues.
• Begin at the dinner table with family, expand to school, church, and friendly lunches.
• I will evaluate the situation to determine how I should say what I say.  Sometimes there is so much of a closed mind that I have to figure out a different way.
• I will avoid putting down anyone in large groups and I will not be personal in my attacks on ideas..

I will try to wipe out Political Correctness.  Obama is having a real problem with this.  So why shouldn't I?  Ralph, my ex husband and I attended a Alumni weekend at  Amherst.  The time was rich with ideas.  One of my favorite presentations was a professor from Chicago and a long term tenured New England professor... their topic Political Correctness.  I came away with such conflict.  This is not the country I grew up in.  It is not the country that thrives on openness, progress through idea sharing, and freedom of speech.

Lemmings

I will also make sure that I am not following just because others do.  I will not be a lemming.  For many years I have encouraged my students. family, employees... only follow when the leader is taking you to a good place.  Don'ts lemming.....

This blog is getting way too long.  I know I will think some more.  There are certainly a lot more issues connected to the shootings.  Our mental health system, our family support systems, and our educational systems all play a part.    I will decide and I hope you will decide to do what your heart calls you to do.