It doesn’t seem to stop. I’m writing this after watching a video of young people at a concert in Manchester, England, run for their lives after a bomb explosion stopped the music.
I’m writing this after hearing the pain of a dad whose handsome son was knifed to death while waiting with friends near a bus stop on the University of Maryland campus. This was just days before his graduation from Bowie State University.
Then there is Danny, a coaching client, who told me he is still angry…no, furious, thinking about his brother, Neil, who was a victim of a stray bullet in the dusk of an evening not even a year ago.
And the eighteen-year-old girl at Times Square, whose last memory was most likely of a car careening onto the sidewalk and snuffing out her life.
This is a long list that seems to never end.
Memorial Day has been set aside to remember those who have been our protectors during times of war. And yes, it is important for us to remember and honor.
It’s also a time to reflect on what is happening in our world, where no one is safe, not even just walking down a busy street on a sunny day.
Let’s remember and honor those who have fallen in battle. They deserve our respect. And, we can also remember all those who have been killed by mindless people wanting to say their way of life is better than yours.
Let’s also remember those who are near and dear to our hearts…family, friends, colleagues. Those who make us sigh deep sighs and bring tears to our eyes. It’s a day to permit ourselves to touch the emotions that are often buried deep inside.
One way to make this day special is to do one simple act of kindness.
Tell someone you care. Write a poem and post it on the internet. Bring a friend a single rose. Smile and tell a stranger to have a beautiful day. Plant a tree.
Maybe the best way to move forward is to remember with kindness. Maybe if enough of us learn to “kill with kindness,” we can begin the long, winding road for a more compassionate world.
A potent thought to imagine.
You do your part and I’ll do mine, and together who knows how the power of killing with kindness can transform our ragged, war weary, divisive hurting planet.
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