TRAGEDY

On Friday, December 14, 2012 20 children and 8 adults died in a brutal shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Fairfield County, CT, USA - a tragedy that even the coldest of hearts would not be able to avoid feeling the pain.

In these initial days of confusion and psychological shielding from the pain of this tragedy's reality, there has been considerable discussion about what happened and its root cause.

Belief systems, memories, feelings, general dysfunction have been called into question.

Was it too liberal gun laws?
Was it the absence of law enforcement at the school?
Was it some trauma the shooter had experienced which has been festering?
Was it the fallibility of the newly installed security system?
Was whole school system at fault for not teaching interventions for this form of autism?
Was it the mother's fault for having an accessible battle weapon?
Was it....?  Was it...? Was it...?

We who are not family and friends will not only be grieving in our own way for that which has wounded deeply our sense of safe place in the world, an experience which is but a recurrence of the experience of 9.11, but each of us will also be responding to our unique sense of social responsibility in our own ways.

Photo by Jane Cutler. I call this "Holy Moment".