This is a letter to BuildaBridge supporters following the horrific mass shooting of children in Connecticut.

I want to wish you and your family, wherever you are, a very happy holiday season.  For many, like me, it is Christmas. But for others it may be Hanukkah, Eid, Kwanzaa, Bodhi Day (which has just passed), or other holiday celebration.  This is a time, or should be, of joy, family, sharing, laughter, good stories and good food, hopefulness, peace and goodwill.  Many will attend services to renew their commitments to peace and goodwill, and the true “reason for the season”.  But for some, like me, it has been a somber and sad season.

Images of little innocent ones who had been slaughtered by a tormented young man with a weapon designed for war have been hard to remove from my mind and heart.  I don’t respond emotionally to crises.  It has always been a personality trait that in the midst of a crisis, of any kind, I am detached and think quite objectively about the safety and needs of the moment.  A day later however, the locked down emotions, begin to affect me quite intensely. Continue reading →