Superheroes

I can't stop thinking about it.  The Batman premier shooting in Aurora, CO just hit me hard.  It was too close for comfort.  My boys were at the midnight premier here in Rochester on Thursday night, their first time going to a late-night opening show. I patted myself on the back for holding out this long for a midnight premier.  At 14 and 16 years old, it was the perfect summer "boy" activity. Wholesome in that it was keeping them off the streets and out of the hood, sheltered, cool, free of bug bites, happy. The movie itself was full of violence, I'd read, but all that "fantasy" stuff appeals to them.  I warned them it was dark.  "Like we haven't seen dark before, Mom?" they replied with the standard amount of sarcasm.  They were excited as I dropped them at the theater with 5 of their friends.  It made me smile to see the little bit of swagger and smell the lingering Axe body spray in the van as they walked away.  "You're a good mom.", I thought to myself, "You'll get points for this!" I had agreed to pick them all up at 3:00 am. and drove home to snuggle with the dog and read on the couch.

Waking up Friday morning (ok, it was actually closer to noon, but I hadn't gone to bed til 4:00!) to the news of the Aurora tragedy made my stomach drop.  I immediately did that thing we all do in the face of someone else's grief, I sighed in relief for a moment.  It wasn't me or my boys, our town or our grief.  It might have been, I knew.  It so easily could have been, I thought.  So, I said a silent prayer:

"Be with them, dear Lord.  Be with those other moms, in a far-away town, who's kids were there too.  Comfort them as they cling to their last memory of their child, happy and healthy, walking into the movie theater with friends.  Be with those who witnessed the horror, for their lives are forever changed, forever marked by an irrational act of violence.  Be with the families of the victims, hold them close in their anguish, give them comfort and peace.  Show me compassion and understanding, for the young man who committed the heinous crime, certainly, but also for others I am so quick to judge this morning.  Those parents who brought their young children, even babies, to that movie theater;  the people who don't think we need stricter gun control laws;  those who see mental illness as shameful and not worthy of our attention or tax dollars.  I need help to make sense of it all, Heavenly Father."

It seems to me that when terrible things happen, when we feel lost and powerless in the world, we need to make solid choices.  We need to choose understanding, empathy, compassion, and kindness, but we also need something stronger. We need to choose love. As Jo Knowles said recently, "Make love your superpower."  At times like this, we all need a superpower.  We must suspend judgement and try to find the strength to respond with as much love as we can, whatever that may mean.  Whether it is letting the guy with the attitude problem go ahead of you in line, or listening to the annoying sales pitch of the telemarketer, volunteering at a homeless shelter, donating some money, or holding the hand of a hurting friend.  We must go about our days with a renewed sense of empathy and fortified with an arsenal of kindness.  We must wear our cape of compassion in thought, word, and deed.  We must be the superheroes in a weary world and do our best to bring justice and peace upon the planet.  It's what Batman would have done in Aurora and here in Rochester too.  My boys know, they saw the movie.

                                                        Source unknown:  Internet finding