About five years ago, , there was a major earthquake in Guatemala.
It was a big one — n0t the big one, but a 6.9 on the Richter Scale –and since my daughter and her family were living in a different part of what is a small country, I was concerned until I heard from her.
A small country? Well, it’s smaller than Georgia, and they don’t even have a Six Flags.
Still, I was glad to know they were OK, and it was the first time I saw a Facebook posting people can use in case of disasters to let people who care about them know they are safe. One of my closest friends used it to let people know he hadn’t been killed, injured or even inconvenienced by the quake.
I thought of that yesterday when my nephew Nathan, a very talented young actor who is living in Brooklyn, used Facebook to let the people who loved him know he was safe after the subway shootings.
It wasn’t something that had really concerned me. Brooklyn isn’t Mayberry, and a guy going on a shooing rampage in Brooklyn wasn’t all that likely to be doing it at the same place and time to come into contact with my nephew.
Still …
The guy did fire 33 shots, and in what had to be something of a miracle, no one died. In fact, he only wounded 10 people in a crowded subway car. One of the people he wounded was sitting right beside him.
His gun had initially been sold in Texas and had passed through several other owners. The shooter purchased it legally 11 years ago in Ohio. He is a 62-year-old man and as yet we don’t know exactly what he was hoping to accomplish.
I think it’s fair to say that most people who buy guns legally don’t intend ever to use them for crimes, but situations change and people. along with them. Who knows why the shooter, who had addresses in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, found himself on a New York City subway shooting at the people around him.
I do know that when things go bad and anger or despair overwhelm you, owning a gun make you far more dangerous to yourself and others.
At least no one died this time, and even though it had not crossed my mind that it could have affected Nathan, it was a relief to know for sure it wasn’t true.
Just as it was a relief five years ago to know my friend hadn’t been caught up in the earthquake in Guatemala,
Or at least it would have been if he had been anywhere near Guatemala.
He actually lives in California, about 2,500 miles to the north and west of where the quake hit, and I’m pretty sure he hasn’t been any closer than Tijuana. In fact, he lives closer to where I live on the East Coast than he does to Central America.
But at least he was safe.
Thank the Lord for small favors.