The recent murder of political activist Charlie Kirk has shaken our society. This type of  violence against any other human is tragic, whether we agree with the ideologies or not.

As my  nephew suggested in a published letter to the Washington Post, WHAT WE DO NEXT  MATTERS! 

Do not meet this tragedy with further violence. We have ways of verbalizing  peaceful disagreements, peaceful discussions, advocacy, local and national votes for our  beliefs and our values. Our freedom of speech allows us to share opinions without the expectation that aggression will follow. And of course severe consequences will occur for anyone who engages in violence. 

As humans we are all capable of feeling angry, irritated, resentful, hurt, threatened and these  emotions can be extraordinarily powerful. We are also capable of using our wise minds to  seek out nonviolent ways of coping, exerting our power in society, engaging in local meetings,  talking to others and planning ways of creating change. Aggressive thoughts are a part of  humanity, but finding inner wisdom can give people the strength not to pull the trigger on  violence.