March 15th, 2019

March 15th, 2019 Christchurch, New Zealand, a day that changed New Zealand, changed me.
On this day I was driving on the left for the first time in many years and was a bit shaken when I arrived at my destination in Linwood. Confusion set in when the door to the shop I was headed for was locked and I was told the lockdown was in place, best to go home. Lockdown? As it turned out I was only a few blocks from the second mosque, the mosque the shooter had driven to calmly after murdering those at prayer in central Christchurch. The police had only just begun the lockdown and I had no idea of what had happened until I had access to a television an hour later.

What was the change for me and why? For all of my adult life there have been mass shootings, increasing in numbers and intensity over the years. Murder of innocents, inconceivable acts which have perplexed and horrified the world. I well remember that gut wrenching reaction to the first mass shooting I experienced, the tower shooting at The University of Texas, 1966. That event affect me in my heart and soul. I did not analyze it, I reacted to it. And so I did again on March 15th, 2019.

The day after the shooting I was invited to sing with a group of those who live from their hearts. And the singing was a balm to our souls. We were invited to sing in Christchurch, not for a particular purpose but to share our songs and sing for joy and comfort. And sing we did, beautifully and with great heart and all of us, spectators as well, felt the relief in the singing.

Jacinda Arden, the Prime Minister of New Zealand , interpreted this event in her own natural way, as an humanitarian. Her words, her actions set the tone for the country and the country responded in kind.

For me, a person living in a place where events like this are common place and are no longer shocking to the same extent, no longer have the effect a first time occurrence can, no longer seem out of the ordinary, this tragic loss of life was a revelation. The shooting of innocents while at prayer that Friday made me realize how immune I had become to these appalling acts. I realized this because the reaction overall in New Zealand was one of empathy and solidarity for the victims and their families. It was a reaction of caring and inclusiveness. It was not pronounced platitudes, it was sincere. Of course in America and any place where senseless violence occurs there is grief and mourning. But what I have never felt anywhere else before this terrible day is that sense of unity and determination to not accept this assault on the people, all the people of the county. This was a first ( and pray the last) for such an incident in New Zealand, a loss of innocence? It seemed so but these resilient people will carry on as true humanitarians. I had seen us all at our very best as we reacted to the very worse.
In all that sadness the blessing for me was my heart grew a bit bigger that day.