No words

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This article was originally written in the sequence of the Pittsburg tragedy. But Jeffersontown and Pittsburg are tragedies within a same, even broader tragedy: Intolerance and hatred that are so strong that they inspire violence against random, innocent victims. In this sense, they are one and the same event, as are so many others.

I look through my window to the beautiful Fall colors and the dark clouds hiding Mount Hood. And I search for just the right words for events that happened a continent away.

But there are no words to describe the Jeffersontown and Pittsburg shootings. There are no words to console those who have lost loved ones. That this must be said again, for two different but equal acts of hatred-driven violence against innocent victims, is beyond words.

When society loses its respect for human life, it loses much of what binds us together. What are we becoming? How do we stop it? How I wish that we knew the magic words, and that we all could take the magic steps together.

But I do know that the vast majority of us rejects violence, and seeks through daily actions a better collective future. Because of that, we will ultimately prevail. There will be a future for our communities, our country and the human race.

Today, though, we must pause to grieve the dead, and to wish for the healing of the wounded … from Pittsburg, Jeffersontown, and so many other incomprehensible tragedies borne by intolerance and hatred. Today, there are truly no words.

— Antonio Baptista