Sad reflections

After a good night's sleep, I feel like my body has adjusted to the six hour time change and it's time to reflect on the journey.

It started at the Lincoln airport, where I sat in the cafe, drinking a cup of coffee and looking out the window watching small planes coming and going as I waited for my flight. I sat there in my own little world when I heard three people chatting.

Two people, a guy and a gal, in their 30s, along with an Asian gentleman in his 50's. The cashier at the cafe was sharing with them about an earthquake in southern California and Northern Mexico. The Asian man wondered about his wife and family and he disappeared for a bit to make a phone call home.

He came back after the call and all was well and shortly after that we were on a plane to Chicago. When we landed, I was in no hurry at all. I had six hours before my next flight so I strolled the long walk from Terminal 5 to Terminal 3.

As I walked along, I was doing some window shopping. Thinking that after I found my terminal and gate, I would find a newsstand and sit back and read a newspaper from front to back. I mean... I had the time!

I looked into a bar and saw a dozen or so people sitting around the bar, with their tall glasses of cold beer. Here it was, not even noon and folks drinking beer. I thought of my times in airports having beer waiting for the next flight and thanked God for the change in my life. If that change never came, I doubt I would have been in the airport right then.

I took a couple of more steps and saw the bar's TV set and it had CNN on and something about a school shooting. I didn't read much or hear much and continued on my stroll. I found my gate and got a newspaper and found a TV as well. I sat down and began reading when people began gathering around the TV... I looked around the terminal and every free TV had people standing in front of it. What was with this shooting? Another tragedy and more pain for families. I looked at the TV from a distance and saw the SWAT team and K9 dogs roaming the grounds of a building. I put down the paper and started watching the TV.

Then the shock sat in. A school shooting. A shooting of harmless, innocent children and their teachers. I watched throughout the day and listened as the numbers rose of the people who were killed. The whole airport seemed to be in mourning. The hustle bustle was still there but yet there was a silence to it. Everyone seemed to know this was not an ordinary day.

Got on my flight to England and as my thoughts went back to seeing the images of the day, my mind went back to two years ago in Norway. 84 children were killed in a massacre. And I just couldn't imagine anyone harming children, I mean how could a child hurt anyone to the point of wanting to kill them?

Mall shootings, theater shootings, school shootings... so many innocent people killed.. for what purpose? When these shootings involve children... very young children... we know that evil is real.

Watching British news that night it was an eye-opener to see how others view America and the policies it has with guns and mental health care. Things like this can happen anywhere, yet America seems to have more then its share of them...

Thoughts and prayers to the Sandy Hook School Community...