THE QUESTION LINGERS on the edge of my brain, nearly tumbling in words onto my tongue, over my lips and out my mouth.
What is this world coming to?
Do you ever ponder that very same question, asking today why a 24-year-old would open fire in a Colorado movie theater killing a dozen and injuring some 60 more? Why? What drives a person to such violence, to take the lives of other human beings who are simply out for an evening of entertainment?
Why, on July 10, did a father in River Falls, Wisconsin, kill his three young daughters? To get back at/punish/hurt his ex-wife?
Why do two young girls vanish, poof, just like that, while riding their bikes in a small Iowa town?
What is this world coming to?
About two blocks away from this anniversary party in south Minneapolis, a crime scene was unfolding late last Sunday morning.
Why, last Sunday, when my family drove to south Minneapolis for a 50th wedding anniversary party, did we turn off Lyndale Avenue and a block away encounter a multitude of police cars and yellow crime scene tape and a TV news crew arriving? We continued on our way wondering what was unfolding as we greeted family, sipped lemonade and slipped into folding chairs in the festive, fenced in backyard just down the street and around the corner.
When my middle brother arrived a bit later, he noted that officers were posed with weapons drawn. Were any of us in danger as we drove past the scene?
What is this world coming to?
Why are children, the most innocent of victims, being shot and killed in Minneapolis on such a regular basis that this horrible crime no longer surprises us?
Have we become immune to violence and the essence of evil which drives it?
What is this world coming to?
When will the killing stop?
© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
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