irma garcia, 4th grade teacher, uvalde, texas
makenna lee elrod, 4th grade student, uvalde, texas
The world is
like a ride at an amusement park,
and when you choose to go on it, you think it’s real,
because that’s how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up
and down and round and round and it has thrills and chills
and it’s very brightly colored and it’s very loud.
And it’s fun, for a
while.
Some people
have been on the ride
for a long time, and they begin to
question: ‘Is this real? Or is this just a ride?’
And other people have remembered, and they come
back to us and they say ‘Hey! Don’t worry, don’t
be afraid — ever — because this is just a
ride.’ And we kill those
people.
…We always kill
those good guys who try and
tell us that — ever notice that? — and we
let the demons run amok. But it doesn’t matter,
because it’s just a ride, and we can change it any time we want.
It’s only a choice. No effort. No worry. No job. No savings
and money. Just a choice, right now, between fear and
love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks
on your door, buy bigger guns, close yourself
off. The eyes of love, instead, see all
of us as one.
Here’s
what we can do
to change the world, right
now, into a better ride. Take all that money
we spend on weapons and defense each year and, instead,
spend it feeding, clothing and educating the poor of the world,
which it would do many times over — not one human being
excluded — and we can explore space together,
both inner and outer, forever.
In peace.
