Commentary

We re-awaken from this regular nightmare of guns and shootings and mass death, and as yet, we have not learned anything.

Like most Americans, I grew up with a Memorial Day viewed as a long weekend at the start of summer season and not a sacred commemoration of the country’s war dead.

Perfecting this method of instantaneous electronic communication “contributed to the rapid expansion of the West” during the 19th century and “laid the groundwork for today’s 24/7 mass media culture.” Advances in transportation and communication liberated people from isolation and brought Americans into a global economy.

Before the war, Yakov Siromatnikov had completed a law degree and owned his own HVAC business. When the war began, Siromatnikov knew he had to evacuate his wife and young children, but he felt led to stay back and help deliver humanitarian aid supplies to those in desperate need.

There is a joy in one’s race and culture. Not to the exclusion of any other group, but in celebration of all cultures.

If giving up is not the answer, then perhaps it is to live this one and only life as never before. Choosing life is to accept all of life. With acceptance comes the release of one's imperfect self-reflected in the Creator’s image to the crucified and risen one.