40 is the new reality...40 mass shootings since the new year was ushered in...40...a number used frequently in Scripture...both Old and New Testament...if Moses were up on Mount Sinai today...and knew of the carnage...would he bother coming down?...what would Jesus say to his disciples after the resurrection if he saw the anguish?...would faith be enough?...what world have we fashioned for next generations?...if we get there...I realized after the second shooting in California...that my mind cannot retain the details of one massacre when it is quickly supplanted by the next...I felt that happening the last few years...particularly when we emerged from Covid quarantine to an angry and violent society...that the sheer horror of it all would need to be buried...and the need to flip the TV channel to something mindless and numbing was overwhelming...I finally understood why the Bachelor franchise lives on...why so many cheer on the WWE...we don't want to think...it has become too painful...instead we watch from the safety of an old worn couch...and text our friends...ignore the news flashes on phones...or glance quickly and feel perverse comfort if it's happening in another state...miles away...I am often reminded these days of something my mom said to me years ago...always watch something funny before bed...the news will give you nightmares...at 10:59 pm the local networks brag of breaking news...Seinfeld, anyone?
