Promising

Oh the power of the human spirit. The ability to work that which binds folk to folk and dares to redirect a grieving  community to a teaching community – a  community that has turned its misery into a mission to teach a nation how to untwist heart-wrenching tragedy to straightforward action. Not remain tangled in the mire.

The townspeople of Newtown, CT (where the horror, the horror of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred just one month ago) these grief-stricken townspeople are determined to have the force of their collective good supersede the evil act of a crazed gunman who took twenty-six innocent lives, twenty of them first-graders, the rest administrators, faculty, and staff.

In an attempt to refocus their grief, the town has renamed its Newtown United group - Sandy Hook Promise. This change signals a brave shift of direction from (understandably) down-in-the-dumps to a forward thrust that hopes to reshape a culture that has insipidly glorified violence, forsaken the mentally ill, and refused to take responsibility for reoccurring tragedies resulting from the combination of these two faux pas.

By forging common ground and common sense, Sandy Hook Promise not only sets a new direction, but explains itself in words as apolitical as the promise that commits so many young girls to be responsible for what they say and do, so many boys to keep themselves, mentally awake and morally upright, and so many couples to have and to hold each other, for better, for worse,  'till death do they part.

Help ingrain the Sandy Hook Promise as deeply as these other promises into our culture.

Start by repeating along with the Newtowners:

Our hearts are broken;

 Our spirit is not.

And it is with this knowledge

 that we are able to move forward

 with purpose… and strength…

 This is a Promise

 To support our own

 our families, our neighbors, our teachers, our community

 with dedication and love

 as well as the material and financial needs they will require

 in the days ahead.

This is a Promise

To truly honor the lives lost

 by turning our tragedy into a moment of transformation.

 This is a Promise

To be open to all possibilities.

 There is no agenda other than to make

our community and our nation a safer, better place.

 This is a Promise

To have the conversations on ALL the issues

 Conversations where listening is as important as speaking.

 Conversations where even those with the most opposing views

can debate in good will.

 This is a Promise

 To turn the conversation into actions.

 Things must change.

 This is the time.

This is a Promise

 We make to our precious children.

 Because each child, every human life is filled with promise,

 and though we continue to be filled with unbearable pain

 we choose love, belief, and hope

 instead of anger.

This is a Promise

 To do everything in our power to be remembered

 not as the town filled with grief and victims;

 but as the place where

real change began.

 Our hearts are broken;

 Our spirit is not.

This is our promise.

Continue by sharing this, so that others along with you can officially make the pledge at http://www.sandyhookpromise.org/