This week my mother and I made our bimonthly trip to Uconn Medical Center to meet with her geriatrician. Even though the trip is less than ninety miles each way, it might as well be much further as each trip takes me away from this place of detachment and denial, bringing me back to the reality of my mother's loss and progressive Alzheimer's. Being with your mother, even for a short time, is emotionally taxing. The once passive and gentle individual has been replaced with a woman petrified of losing control. Yet, she resists every support we put in place to help her maintain control and stay in her home. The illness that took away her memory and ability to reason prevents her from understanding her reality and that the very things she fights against are the only things that keep her where she wants to be. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original EssayWhen I returned to Narragansett late Wednesday afternoon, I thought a lot about my day with Mom, how she had proven unaware of her reality and how she now lashes out at my brothers and sisters-in-law every time that we try to make it possible for you to stay at home. Somehow, Mom's reality connected me with Christ's words from the Sermon on the Mount: "Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the plank in your own eye?" As I reflected on these words, I had to ask myself: How does our need to remove the speck from another's eye, while failing to address the log in our own eye, impact our ability to address ongoing violence throughout the world. Just a week ago, we once again witnessed another massacre of human life. Fifty members of the LGBTQ community died at the hands of a lone gunman as they innocently partied the night away at an Orlando nightclub. Once again, as if on cue, the same discussions about gun control, immigration, the “Islamic” threat have come to the surface. Facebook I's servers must have been overloaded all week as every bishop, clergy member and politician chimed in to express their anger at the situation or to defend whatever political position was being challenged on the other side of the aisle. I must admit, I am tired of the political and media drama that occurs every time these massacres occur. To be honest, I find it offensive to the victims of these heinous acts. As the 1960s song asked during the Vietnam War, “when will they ever learn?” I have to ask myself, “When will we ever learn?” When will we choose to remove the beam from our eyes and see the deeper reality we face? When will we start working to change this culture of violence that we, as a society, have created. As Christian people we claim to be followers of Christ. We accept that he taught us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Because of what Christ taught, we vow to seek and serve justice while respecting the dignity of every human being. Here's the problem I see every time there is a massacre: we, as a people, look to Congress to legislate the response. Yes, we need better, more sensible gun control. Yes, we need more and better mental health resources to prevent those who are losing their grip on reality from causing the ongoing carnage. Yes, it is possible, we must better select the people who choose to enter our country. But these acts only scratch the surface of the problem..