December 22, 2012 and we're still here. No cataclysmic natural disaster destroying the earth. No invasion from outer space. No rapture whisking good Christians to Heaven. No apocolypse. National Geographic published a report of new discoveries that show the Mayan calendar wasn't predicting the end of the world, rather the beginning of a new age - the calendar generally thought to predict the end of the world was " long count" based on a 5,000 cycle.

My hope for the new era is that it be the Age of Spirituality where we recognize that we are all connected; where tolerance, empathy and acceptance become the norm; where differences are resolved through negotiation and the parties involved are willing to work for solutions that respect the value and dignity of all human life; where we can let go of decades old centuries old injustices; where every child has an opportunity to achieve their full potential; where mankind is seen as the steward of our natural environment rather than the conquerer and acts accordingly.

Imagine.

One week ago today a 20 year old mentally ill man killed 27 people in Newton, Connecticut before killing himself. 20 of those killed were first graders at Sandy Hook Elementary school, 6 of the victims were teachers or staff at the school, and 1 was the shooter's mother - his first victim. In the week following there have been the predictable cries to put God back in our schools and debates about gun control as well as blame placed on violent video games and violent movies. I say predictable because these are the same things that are said after every mass shooting. A few voices have called for examining our broken mental health system.

Today I think the tragedy was compounded. The NRA, after remaining quiet for a week, held a press conference today where among other things they proposed that the government should put armed gourds in every school in the country. School Shield they're calling it and the idea includes having volunteers from among the ranks of the NRA membership serve as those guards. Early estimates are that such a program would cost around $5 million.

The largest gun lobby, largest gun ownership advocacy group, had an opportunity today to stand up and say that we need tighter controls on assault weapons. They had an opportunity to make history by saying that assault weapons have no purpose in any setting other than the military. What a shocker that would have been and what a way to show that the NRA membership are willing to forgo owning weapons that are made for the sole purpose of killing people because they care about what is in the best interests of society of a whole.