By Tom Wilbur

It’s been a couple of days of great sadness in Salina. We lost another one of our own– a beautiful young girl with her whole life in front of her– to a group of murdering delinquents set to impose their purposeful form of revenge on someone. Their plan involved the intent to kill another person, but in their haste and in their rage to impose their means of judgment, they missed, and killed an innocent girl. It seems very clear that someone was going to die Wednesday night, and someone did. No one deserved to die, regardless of the situation. This kind of activity doesn’t occur often in a community like ours, and that’s why it hurts so much— and our thoughts and prayers are with her, and her extended family. It’s a tragic loss. May God bless them all.

But a bell is tolling a preliminary warning for us. One senseless death doesn’t change everything, but the world around us is churning daily. We see more evil in the world, where grace could intervene. We read of the anger propagated in larger cities, and how young people struggling to find their way often kill each other across America—because they can’t envision a positive future ahead. Their expectations are negative, and they get what they expect to get. Salina has had a certain immunity to the bigger issues, but now this issue has presented itself to us, for us to deal with—and respond.

Culturally, our community is continuing to grow more diverse. Diversity is a good thing, but we need to embrace it, and use it to empower, not to denigrate our town. Young people face new challenges and there’s a higher sense of entitlement in our children today, as they grow up thinking the world owes them more, and that the world owes them happiness. A lack of work ethic, a lack of responsibility, an integration of new types of drugs, the ongoing changes in the make-up of the parental structures everywhere, and generational and cultural mis-understandings among us create the potential for isolationism, mistrust, hatred, vengefulness and confusion. We need to be the conduits for positive change.

So what can we do? Here’s my opinion on how we, as a community, should respond:

We are charged at every level with the responsibility to set the tone—to reach out and build bridges to help each other, to listen when we disagree and find the middle ground, to mentor up those who have challenges, and to identify hostile situations and make them known to our law enforcement professionals. Past that, we must continue to demonstrate love to all who reside in this great community, especially our young people– and guide and direct them in a positive manner. We live here, in the shelter of each other, and this young lady was our responsibility. We’re accountable to each other. I take that personally. You should, too.

Communication is the key, staying vigilant in protecting and helping our kids, and working together to mitigate the risks where they occur— are all part of the answer. We need to continue to reach out and serve others, and promote positive activities for our young people, and exhibit kindness to all who live here. Together, we can help identify problems—short term and long term, and make plans to counter areas of growing pressure or violence— to the best of our ability. Ultimately, we all need to stay responsible to each other for the ongoing ownership of a safe, prospering, and caring environment for everyone here in Salina, Kansas.

I’m asking you to do your part, to get on board, and help maintain the fundamentals that endear us to this place. Safety. Opportunity. Forgiveness. Honest communication. Nurturing our kids. Pride. And lending a hand.

Together, we can do this.

Blessings,

tw

Tom Wilbur is President/CEO of BANK VI, Salina, and a graduate of Salina Central, and the University of Kansas. He regularly writes for magazines, periodicals, and newspapers, and has been a resident of Salina for 54 years.

He has served on numerous non-profit boards in this area, and is passionate about helping young people. He can be reached at rockchalktw@hotmail.com