On Confronting Ignorance

At AFM I confront ignorance all the time. In 2015 I lost 5 soldiers. I can tell you that none of them were cowards or weak or being selfish when they took their lives. The human brain is the most complicated organ in the body - 100 billion neurons each connected to 10,000 synaptic bridges. Telling a person with depression or any other mental health disorder to just get over it is like telling a man having a heart attack to run a marathon. It is physiologically impossible.

When a community experiences tragedy like it did last night at an intersection 50 yards from where I was having dinner I often see the worst of the human spirit, but I choose to focus on the best of the human spirit. I have seen it over the past 24 hours in a compassionate Police Chief, detectives, and other LE personnel, I have seen it in a pastor wanting to reach out, and I saw it this afternoon in working with a grieving family as they focused on the one who is gone - his infectious laughter and incredible sense of humor, the way he acted like a kid when he was with his service dog and the way he smiled at those he loved.

One day ignorance will cease, but love never fails!