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Lance Scranton: In there somewhere

Lance Scranton/For Craig Press
Lance Scranton
Courtesy photo

We’ve celebrated another Christmas, and now it’s time to get back to life as usual.

Something about the holiday in the middle of a regular work week puts a refreshing pause on the hectic lives we lead. But in there somewhere is the comfortable acknowledgement that there is a day when we celebrate the joy of giving, and thanking, and practicing the better parts of our nature.

But, when local news turns to tragedy, and we learn that another family in our community has been affected by the ravages of a house fire, we think long and hard about how blessed we have been to watch our sons and daughters grow up. To think about life without a loved one is too terrible to imagine but too real for some who have no choice but to endure the pain of excruciating loss.

In there somewhere, we ask the most difficult of questions, and too often, the answer is silence. The world seems to run its course and spit out the realities of loss and pain. Why is it that people must learn to cope with loss while others never know the heartbreak of losing a loved one?

In there somewhere, we really want someone to blame for the agony others must go through as the cold hand of chance comes crashing down on the lives too young to know about the unfairness of life. For some, it is just the objective hand of fate that takes away the lives of some but spares the lives of others.

In there somewhere, we reach out to places we don’t often talk about and look for answers to questions we have trouble articulating, except for the fact that it hurts too much to wrestle with ourselves, and the only possible reprieve is an answer that makes some sense out of it all.

In there somewhere, we all think about how the world could be — and should be — if only things went as they should; but they don’t, and we weep for those affected by the harshness and brutality of life. If the answers were easy to find, each of us would know that peace that surpasses understanding.

In there somewhere, we know a silent prayer finds its way to help comfort those affected by tragedy and loss.

In there somewhere, we realize this life we live is too often confined by selfishness and greed, but if we just try a little harder, we can make the lives of those around us a little better.

In there somewhere is the realization that we’re all in this world together, and none of us will get out of it any more than what we are willing to give.

In there somewhere is the knowledge that we can make more of a difference than we can ever know or understand.

In there somewhere, we all need Christmas to remind us that we can live out the promise of giving in a world that too often takes.

In there somewhere is the way to a brighter 2019, filled with the opportunity to honor the memory of lives lost by doing everything we can to make our own lives worth living.

Lance Scranton is a teacher and coach at Moffat County High School.


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