Then, at actual 5pm, my mom called to "make sure I was alright," which made no sense to me whatsoever. She told me that there had been a shooting at the local mall, and just wanted to make sure I wasn't there. Which I wasn't, so that was pretty much the end of that conversation. I don't have TV reception at my house, so we hadn't heard any news up until then. When my roommate's sister in law texted her to make sure she didn't get shot at the mall, we decided to hop on the internet.
What we found out was mostly just sad news. Three people, including the original shooter, were dead at the mall. It sounded like there was a lot of confusion and distress and people still hiding scared in the mall, and now, hours later, I know that's true. I watched the news with the older lady that I work as a caregiver for, and now it's on again. It's unsettling. Even more unsettling is that it's not as shocking as it would have been a few years ago. This is our world now-- things like this seem to happen more and more often. It's horrible, but it's not as unusual as I would like it to be.
Today is a day to practice peace. As I watch the news, I remember that ultimately, God is good. Even in this violent world where people are somehow driven to commit horrible acts, God is good. There is hope. I choose to hold on to that and hope that the things I say and do are an assurance of it for others. I think that there are a lot of people in my community who will not be getting much sleep tonight. There are law enforcement officers working to put this case into order, and grieving families, and scared people who were caught up in chaos today. My prayer for them is that they will know the peace of God, as well.
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