Can America awaken to the threat?

Suzann Darnell writes at Wooly Mammoth,

A Little Southern (California) Comfort

“. . . mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, . . .” (from Mosiah 18:9, Book of Mormon)

Tears of sorrow amidst this season of joy. Truly this is how those in San Bernardino, California must feel after the terrorist attack that left fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters dead or wounded. An attack that rent the fabric of families across the Inland Empire. A valley nestled against hills on three sides. A place that can experience warm sunshine in the lowlands, while snow is piled deep enough for skiing up on the mountains. I know this to be true ‘cause in the mid-1980s we lived in Highland, a community on the hillside across from the area where the suspects lived and the shootings took place.

It is a place filled with many happy memories. My husband brought me fresh flowers almost every week ‘cause he passed a man selling flowers on the corner while driving home from work. We used to take our daughters to the drive-in movies pretty regularly with our van camper. I would cook hotdogs and make fresh popcorn using the stove, while serving cold sodas out of the little fridge. Sometimes our daughters would sit on the step of the van, eating watermelon, and spitting seeds into the gravel. And, how can I ever forget taking our girls and our Great Dane for ice cream at the local Dairy Queen, where the dog was a celebrity?

To know that this happy place now has a dark shadow of grief overlaying it, like the LA smog that creeps down the valley, is so sad. While I do not know any of the victims or their families, I feel a connection just by virtue of knowing their community ‘cause it was once my community. I think in some ways we are always a part of the places we have been, no matter how long ago. At least I know that is true for me. Perhaps it is due to my military upbringing and then my time as a military wife. For 40 years of my life I was always from somewhere, living somewhere, and going somewhere. A sort of past, present, AND future existence that made me feel connected to more places than one.

For this reason these families will be in my prayers this holiday season. I will pray that the Lord will comfort those who mourn and heal those who suffer. It is my Christmas wish that these families can find a little bit of happiness in the season, despite the darkness that has descended into their lives. Especially those families with children. A sad Christmas can become a forever blight on a holiday that should be filled with love and light. But, I know it must be a nearly impossible situation for those who lost loved ones. However, as many celebrate the season commemorating the birth of Jesus, who is known as both Comforter and Healer, I pray the burdens of woe are lightened for those in pain.

I also pray that America can awaken to the threat that now lives right within our midst. The threat our own government seems unwilling to acknowledge. The threat of acts of terror right here at home. An all too real threat. Just ask the citizens of San Bernardino, California if the threat exists!