Be Jason Bourne

 

This may seem like a strange topic for a Sunday blog post, but it is something that our family has been talking about a lot lately.

My husband got a call from our oldest, Luke, the other night. He wanted us to know that when we would soon be reading about a fatal shooting at a store in Indianapolis, it was not his location. And for that, we were thankful. Still terribly sad, but thankful.

This scenario has been popping up all too frequently.

In February, an active shooter killed students at the Michigan State University campus.

Last month, a man shot two people, a nurse and her companion, as they were leaving the nursing home that is a mile down the street from our home. The young woman was killed. In my tiny little suburb, there were helicopters, police, ambulances, and first responders everywhere.

At my husband's retail establishment, smash and grabs are becoming a frequent occurrence.

It seems that nowhere is safe.

We have been telling our sons to "be Jason Bourne". We are a movie buff family, so they all know the reference. But let me explain.

In the Bourne movies, Jason is a highly trained military assassin working for the U.S. government. In the first movie, Jason explains to Marie, his traveling companion, that he notices everything all the time. When sitting in a restaurant, he is looking for exits. He knows which patrons drove which cars, and who is likely to have a gun in their pickup truck. He knows if something seems suspicious.

In other words, he is situationally aware.

Situational awareness. This is something we all need to be practicing.

It is easy to pull out our phones and scroll through Facebook while waiting in line at Walmart. But what we really should be doing is putting that phone away and looking around us. Look at people. Look at doors. Rehearse worst case scenarios, and how you would respond.

If something feels funny, trust that intuition. 

Park your car under a light in the parking lot at night. Have your keys in your hand, and your phone just in case. Look around you. Be safe.

I think this takes some practice. It can start as simply as noticing the things of nature on a walk. Notice the changing leaves, the birds, the bugs on the sidewalk. Look at houses and trees. 

We found this pair of eyeglasses on one of our neighborhood walks, laying on the ground. I took a photo and posted it on the internet, in case someone had lost these. A simple thing, really. But I began to wonder how many people walked right by and never saw them there.

We live in sad days. Dark days. There is a LOT of mental illness out there, and there are a lot of people who, quite frankly, desperately need Jesus. Don't we all? 

Pray. And stay safe.