So we find ourselves once more a
stunned nation with families immersed in incomprehensible sadness. A random act of horrendous aggression is
visited upon a Connecticut grade school, shattering the happy anticipation of hard-working teachers and
innocent children leading up to holiday festivities. Setting the tragedy aside for the moment, not
everyone relishes the holiday season with equal verve. It is well known that many among us, having
suffered loss or who dwell in social isolation, find this time of year
especially difficult to endure. Such would
seem to be the case for one deranged man, barely out of childhood himself, who
perpetrated the travesty at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The motives of the gunman will perhaps be
unraveled in time by psychological professionals, but any logic that leads
someone to carry out such an act is unfathomable to the rest of us.
We
are, right now, a nation divided along political and ideological lines. We have been buffeted by wars and natural
disasters. We hear vitriol spewed on the airwaves, we
witness violence in our own streets and across the globe. Now we are met with a senseless mass murder
in a grade school, a place we would assume to be a safe haven for our cherished
children. But an event like this calls
forth and reminds us of our common humanity.
In a moment of introspection we can place our problems and differences
into proper perspective as our hearts go out to the families and loved ones of
those children and teachers who were suddenly, inexplicably brutalized.
People
of my generation often regard today's children as lacking innocence that we
claim to have possessed when we were youngsters. The fact that elders of every tribe have felt
this way for millennia belies the validity of that sentiment. Even those children who might be labeled
"spoiled brats" reflect, in their best moments, a sweet naïveté. Innocence is a congenital, ephemeral virtue that
erodes with time and can never be regained.
Innocence also dwells within our pets, who, through their childlike nature,
touch our hearts in profound ways. The love
connection that we feel for our pets is not a mere figment of an optimistic
imagination. Scientific scrutiny has
confirmed that the sense of well-being that results from hugging a cat or dog faithfully
replicates the sustenance we derive from embracing our children.
As
a practicing veterinarian I have the good fortune of witnessing unbridled
innocence every day. I see what
nourishment the love of pets provides to the people who keep them. No matter what our ideological or political
differences, perhaps we can agree that instilling the innocence of children and
pets into our own hearts might evoke a civility that is often missing in our
discourse. If, as a consequence of this
tragedy, we remember to harness our emotions, treat one another with respect when
differences arise, learn to bury our grudges and regard one another as
valuable, then the meaningful lives of those who died will have even greater
consequence.
With
that wish I leave you with this sentiment put into poetry and music by the late
John Denver in his song, Rhymes and Reasons.
