imagine there's no heaven.

I took this photograph with the intent of writing about our connection to our beautiful planet Earth. However, in light of recent events the photo has inspired me in another way.

My 19 year old brother is a student at the University of Maryland. He is studying astrophysics, and can probably tell you anything about the universe/space. To make a little bit of spending money, he works at the University Observatory every once in a while. Sometimes he works an Observatory Open House, sometimes he works the telescopes...who knows. But he works there with a small group of other students, all of whom are so enamored by astronomy, that they trek through the woods to get to their place of worship, and they spend hours in prayer like devotion gazing up to the night sky and imagining the possibilities that exist out there. Imagining if they will ever have the opportunity to be gazing back at Earth from the moon, or in my brothers case, Mars.

Tonight, my 19 year old brother, staggered out into the living room in shock. He mumbled something, I don't remember what. All I remember is the shock I heard in his voice. He had just received an email from the woman who runs the Observatory notifying all Observatory employees that one of the students, a young man named Justin, who worked there was found dead in his off-campus home this morning. Shot. Homicide.

A young man, 21...maybe 22, shot dead. A life cut short by an act of violence.

Violence is a poisonous seed that grows and spreads it's roots throughout the world. We must not allow these roots to take hold. We must not allow them to penetrate our hearts.

I have also been particularly upset by the shooting in Arizona.
Victims:
-Judge John Roll ,63
-Dorthy Morris, 76
-Dorwin Stoddard, 76
-Phyllis Scheck, 79
-Gabriel Zimmerman, 30
-and NINE year old Christina Greene. This child was born on 9/11/01. She entered this world during an act of violence, yet to her parents she represented hope. She left this world in an act of violence.

We are slowly destroying our own world and our own lives with these acts of violence. Families are torn apart, hearts are broken and humanity is left hurt and confused. However, acts of violence often result in a bigger act of love.

After 9/11/01, an outpour of love came from all over the country and world. People were desperate to help, to comfort those who lost someone and to help the recovery. I got together with a friend and made over 100 sandwiches which were delivered to the search teams and rescue workers at Ground Zero.

After the Virginia Tech shooting, a vigil was held on Old Main lawn back at Penn State. I went, I cried, I prayed. Penn State was one of the hundreds of schools that reached out to the Hokies. During our Blue and White game (basically: free football scrimmage! Go State, Beat....State?) students were decked out in orange and maroon. The S-zone, normally displaying a huge blue and white "S", instead displayed "VT" in orange and maroon.

Hurricane Katrina, The Earthquake in Haiti...the response was enormous. Love was everywhere providing hope for those who were hurting.

But why do we wait for an act of hate to show our hearts? It's as if the problems in the world don't exist until they hit us closer to home than we would like. We must always act with love. When fear, spite and hate motivate your actions, you are hurting SOMEONE. And that might start a domino effect of negative actions. The world doesn't need anymore negative actions.
Negate the negativity and act with love.

I believe that our time on this planet is just a stage in our souls journey through it's existence. This is the self-aware phase, and after we move on from that...who knows where we go. But while we are present we must fill our lives with love.

Please, say a prayer for Justin and his family.
Say a prayer for the victims of the Arizona shooting, and those who are still in critical condition.
And PLEASE, fill your life with love. Do not be afraid of it. Do not run away from it. Embrace it, welcome it into your arms like an old friend.

There's no reason to run...it will only bring you joy.