A wave, Hoping the tides may change...

Perhaps the tides will change.
The wind this morning blew early, a restless kamakani from the northwest. I spent the morning in the calm of the ocean, perfect waves and good people. Somewhere over the sea, a catastrophe took place, an inhumane catastrophe. The media have swooped on a school shooting, people are giving their thoughts and advice through status updates on facebook. And I? I was unaware, timber beneath my toes surfing a wall of green with the rising sun and it's playful creatures. What could spur such an event, what brings a person to this place of hate and fear? Did the people that woke up this morning and decided, that they had the say to end the lives of dozens of people need a hug? a smile? or perhaps a wave?

What drives us to be humane? What is it to be humane?
I was once talking to a girl who was brought up with religion (I was not). She was a strong believer of her faith and conversation swung to this quickly. She asked if I was religious; I said that I do things religiously but I'm a firm believer in actions and consequences, kindness and other constants, like paradox, humor and change.
 
   She seemed puzzled..."How do you know what is right and wrong if you're not religious?" she asked, obviously concerned. I answered with another question; "does religion give you feelings?" "It gives me everything" she answered. I said, "I act on feelings and their by products, If something makes me feel good I'll act accordingly, if something makes me feel unhappy or angry, I'll take action to make it better". "BUT, How do you know if something is good or bad?" she interjected frustratedly.

  I paused to give her time to cool her jets then answered."I just do, we all have feelings and the only belief they are tied to is our want to be happy. When a baby is sad, it cries, when it is happy it laughs. These are called emotions, Does an infant have religion? No. I'm the same, just larger, hairier, but with just as much feeling."

Back to this mornings events; I hope whatever actions spurs from this horrific event, leads us to a more humane space, where people take responsibilities for their actions, and really understand that they DO know the difference between right and wrong innately. Also perhaps leads society to an understanding that no one ever has the right to take the life of another and in doing so we realise the futile nature of  weapons, cruelty and violence.

I hope the families of the victims will one day find some sort of solace from the terrors of this day; perhaps through the kindness of others they might find that iota, that small measure of happiness once again. Perhaps the tides will change for them...for the better.