Now is the Time

All of you who know me, know that I am not impulsive. Even though, as a teacher, I loved trying new ideas and encouraged my students to learn in whatever way they made sense to them, I also chose my words and actions after making sure that my response was one of which I could be proud and wouldn't bring hardship to those whom I love.

A few years ago I encountered an issue that I honestly didn't see coming.  I had just become a principal.  In the summer before school started, a member of the PTA came to me and wanted to paint a new Patriot in place of the stick figure that had been in the hallway since the school was opened.  Her choice was a Marine who was carrying a flag.  The stick figure had a rifle.

School started and no one cared.  Two weeks later in 2001, the world changed when our country was attacked on our east coast.  Out of the blue, a local "journalist" called to ask me if I had taken the gun out of the Patiot's hand in our hallway.  I explained the process of what we had done, but I left out that the idea that it had been brought to me by a PTA member.  His tone let me believe that he was going after whoever had this idea, and it wouldn't do me or her any good to bring her into it.

What happened then was beyond anything that I could have ever imagined.  On the first page of his newspaper, he vilified me for being unpatriotic and a traitor to our country at a time when we should all be standing behind our country.  He called for me to be fired.  It felt bad, but I thought that would be the end of it.

I want to remind you that he never came to see the new Patriot, but because the superintendent at the time was inundated with calls and emails, the only person to come to see the Patriot was that superintendent.  He looked at it  and simply said, "It looks good."  And he left.

From that point and for the rest of that year, I had death threats, became a regular target of Fox News, and had to counsel my secretary on not answering long distance calls anymore.  A militia group from Michigan came to our school property to find me.  To this day, one source of pride for me was that most of my staff had no idea that this was going on.  We were able to continue on with the task at hand - educating the children in our charge.

It eventually went away.  It never went away inside me.  What I found out from that experience was that no matter how hard you try to do the right thing, say the right thing; there is always someone who has a different view of what is right.  And no matter how right you are, they will push against you relentlessly.

To this day, I still ask the question that I can't shake - Why did they think that a gun was a more important symbol in that hallway than the flag?  What is interesting now is that those same people seem to think that there are specific ways to honor a flag that they didn't think was the right symbol in that hallway in 2001.

I realize that at this point I am beginning to head in a different direction, but not really.  Since that year, I have chosen my words carefully.  I never wanted to feel that gnawing at my gut again.  I express my opinion, but tempered with moderation.

That can't work in this case.  For too long, we have heard that guns kill and that there need to be more regulations.  We have also heard that people kill.  We need to find those who are troubled and find ways to keep them away from violence.  What have they done so far?  Nothing.

Notice they talk.  And they talk.  And they argue.  And they posture.  In the end nothing has ever happened, except killing.  Killing in shopping centers.  Killing at elementary schools.  Killings at college campuses.  Killing in Las Vegas.

It encourages me when there are so many people who ask for prayers, and I am sure that there are many of us praying.  But, I grew up with two grandfathers who were ministers.  They both knew that prayers needed to followed by action.  God's best answer to prayers come when those who pray actively work for the solution.

Rather than talk this to death again, it is time for action.  Rather than argue about what the right answer is, come to some answer.  The people of this country have faced many challenges, and we eventually get things right.  Now is the time.