-
Five Things My Community Has Learned after a Mass Shooting
Today I'm happy to have as my guest Destiny Teasley, who was my grad-school writing student at the time of the Las Vegas shootings. Please listen carefully…. On October 1, 2017, a mass shooting took place in the center of my city, Las Vegas, Nevada. Fifty-eight people were killed and more than 850 suffered physical injuries. Two years have now passed. And here are five things my community has learned in that time: 1. Life goes on. And that is positive and negative. Encouraging and insulting. As a community we have become well-acquainted with the challenge of helping others to navigate the precarious tightrope between mourning and living. In this broken world…
-
What Happened in Eden Won’t Stay There
Today I am happy to share this space with guest blogger, Nan Maurer. The Oct.1, 2017 news about Las Vegas was bewildering. “Why would one man take so many lives in such a deliberate and brutal way?” Social media exploded with professional and amateur pundits playing debate games of blame and defend: It’s because of the NRA. It’s because of the mentally ill. It’s because of politicians. Sadly, unexplained tragedies happen all over the world. In July of 2011, a gunman killed 85 at a youth camp in Norway; in March 2015, a German co-pilot flew a passenger jet into the French Alps and killed 150. What happened in Vegas…
-
Cruise Ships, Roller Coasters, and Attitudes
Last month, an engine fire disabled the cruise ship Carnival Triumph in the Gulf of Mexico. Almost no electricity, only one working elevator, and worst of all, a handful of working toilets for 4000+ people. Crew members handed out bio-hazard bags to set inside trash cans as ad hoc commodes, then collected them from hallways. Suddenly, the luxury vacation turned into a nightmare for a lot of people, especially those on the lowest floors and those in inside cabins. No one had any control over their circumstances. They only had control over their attitudes. Some screeched their rage at Carnival, threatening that they would “own” the company after their lawsuits…
