The Untold Story

Have you ever told someone, that someone they loved is dead? I mean, right after it happened? It sucks. It is emotional. You are helpless. I have done it on more than a few occasions. Working in first response, crisis, mental health and as a chaplain, has put me in this position frequently. It never gets easier.

Tonight I start a bit of a vacation. Heading to a place where no one knows my name, or what I do. As I often have the better part of a few hundred stories I am working on {at any given time}, this one popped up tonight. It’s an unpopular opinion, but it still rings true today.

People are angry, depressed and checked out. I see it everyday on the streets running a response team. And it has gotten worse. COVID really did a number on society as a whole. Addiction is up. So much so, that it was declared a national emergency in 2020. Suicide is on the rise. Homelessness is on the rise. Mental health is on the rise. Bullying is on the rise. We have got to start talking to people, not about them.

Look, no one has a sicker sense of humor then I do. But not at the expense of others. Those memes that you’re posting. Those names that you’re calling. Tonight, someone is taking their life because of them. Making fun of the addict. Belittling illegal’s. Treating homeless like criminals. What are we doing?

But I digress. Below is a little piece that I started to write after a mass shooting. Not sure why I didn’t post it. It became the untold story. So tonight, I will. I am not interested in your opinion. Please unfriend me if this offends you. This isn’t about rights, America or God. This is about action. Because clearly we aren’t taking any.

We keep having moments of silence, because we remained silent. We know with 100% certainty, that thoughts and prayers do not work. It’s time for action, America. We got it fatally wrong again. Replace silence with intelligent conversation. Replace thoughts with new legislation. And prayers…prayers do not work, without work.

We are flawed, lazy, and praying to a God that does not exist, or does not care. We have become immune to mass shootings. Just liked we ignored the heroin epidemic.

But don’t worry. At the rate we’re going, sooner or later you’ll feel the sting personally. And then someone like me, will end up at your house saying, “You need to prepare yourself for bad news”. It never gets easier for me. And the people that I bring the bad news to? Well, many don’t recover at all.

Move with kindness. We all win.