It was just three miles down the road...

By now, everyone has heard about the Century 16 movie theater shooting here in Aurora.  Tragedies in this intense media/social networking age have a strange affect on people.

The shooting happened just 3 miles from my apartment, at the theater I always go to and brag about to people because even new release movies on a Friday or Saturday night are only $6.50.  I've seen probably 7 or 8 movies there already in the 7 months I've lived here.

And although it hit super close to home right away because of the physical proximity, my familiarity with the theater, and the multiple texts and Facebook posts I got on Friday making sure I was okay...

I still wasn't at all directly affected.

My heart and thoughts do go out to those who WERE directly affected.  I think of the 6 year old who was shot and died, and her mother who was shot and is still desperately clinging to life. The doctors have not yet told her that her daughter did not survive.  I think about the dad in that family who walked into the theater that Thursday night to have a fun family night....and walked out without a daughter and with a wife in critical condition.

Life is so short.

I understand all of that intellectually, and my heart goes out to those families.

But I still wasn't directly affected.

I'm not a very emotional person to begin with, therefore I have a hard time really feeling the pain and mourning with the victims and their families.  I don't know them.  I can't put faces to the names.  I guess this is probably a normal reaction for most of the world as we watch tragedies on the news that happen every day all around the world.

However, today that changed just a bit for me.  I still don't know any of the victims....but I went to a new church today that did.

I decided to try the church across the street from my apartment.  I've tried multiple different churches since I moved here, but have not once gone to the one across the street.

Today I did.  First impressions: It was a large church, but not a mega church.  It was very multicultural. There was a very somber feeling when you walked in.  Three miles away from the shooting.

Of the 12 victims that were shot and killed, one of them attended this church.  They showed his picture up on the screen.  A middle aged white man that could look just like any one of my uncles or dad's friends.  The pastor shares he attended this church regularly with his teenage daughters.  You can hear people all around gasping and some begin to outwardly weep.

A face and a name.

The extended family of the 6 year old and her mother who were shot met with the pastor last night at the church after the Saturday evening service.

It's hitting a little closer to home.

The pastor then asks for a show of hands who was in that theater that night, or directly knows someone who was shot.  Four hands around me go up.  Hands are laid on them as the congregation prays over them.

This is not "my" church.  This is not "my" community.  But it is to everyone sitting around me.  Everyone I just shook hands with.

But I do live here now.  I have only lived here for 7 months.  But what if I had grown up here? What if this had happened in my home town?

It is a normal human reaction to not feel as affected when tragedies strike people you don't know.  Because tragedies happen all the time.

But today I was challenged to not just feel emotions or pray for victims only when the media is telling me to.

Because they are people just like you and me.  And they will be hurting long after the media has forgotten them.

We also have to remember just how short life is.  Live it to the fullest.  People always say that and a lot of times people take that as an excuse to be irresponsible, selfish and just go party like crazy.

No.  Live it to the fullest.

This also means to Love people to the fullest.
Random acts of kindness go a long way.  Who knows what kind of personal tragedy that person may be recovering from.  Everyone needs a little more encouragement and kindness in their life.

Spend time with and enjoy the people you love.  This is one thing you will never regret doing when it's your time to leave this earth.  We are created to be in relationship with others.

Your time on earth is not just to make 'you' happy.  This often goes against everything we hear in American culture today.  It's about serving and encouraging others even when we might not get any reward or recognition for doing so.

I know these are all cliches we hear all the time.  They're on every bumper sticker, every Facebook photo that 10,000 people 'like' and flood our news feeds.

But challenge yourself to take one cliche...and live it out.  They're repeated for a reason.  People want them to be true.  They want these things to be a real thing in their life.  So make it true.  It usually takes effort and intentionality...it's not always a natural thing for us to do.

Also, don't be scared of going to movies or going on new adventures.  Don't let tragedies take away the joy you might find in new experiences that are only found outside of your comfort zone.

Most of all: Don't live in fear. Then those who cause the tragedies win.  But love on people.  Because you never know, you might be loving on just the right person and preventing another senseless tragedy from happening.