"Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace..."

Violence is slowly taking over the normalcy of our everyday lives. Can you imagine a world with out hearing of a school shooting or a church invasion? How many more headlines can we handle? The lives of innocent people are being taken, for what? To prove an opinion or to rid society of a certain race, sex, social class or gender. When did the answer turn to the extreme measures of loading a gun? When did society become so dehumanized? The lives of innocent people are being attributed to a lack of gun control laws.

According to the Huffington Post, there have been 74 school shootings since Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in December of 2012. Schools are becoming targets, violence is not being stopped, it's being dealt with. More and more individuals are fearing sending their children to places that we are taught should be safe. The main questions many are left to seek answers to: How are we going to make this stop? How are we going to restore sensitivity and remove hatred?

"Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world ..."

John Lennon wrote "Imagine" in response to the actions of mankind. In response to the pain humans inflict on one another for opinions made in vain. Can you imagine a week without violence, greed or hatred? We live in a world where stories of human decency are praised and brought to light, instead of treating them as normal appropriate acts. We fight for peace and justice, but often succumb to the hopelessness of what we cannot control.

USA Today writes about the expanded security needed in churches after nine people were killed in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church shooting and many other attacks.

"In 1999, there were 22 violent deaths — including homicides and suicides — reported at worship centers nationwide, according to statistics compiled by Chinn. Last year, there were 115 attacks, with 75 of those ending in a fatality" reports Carl Chinn, security consultant interviewing with USA Today.

Awareness needs to be spread, these actions may not be understood, they may be unfathomable beyond all belief, but they need to be stopped. Violence is not the answer, and we have history to prove that.

In the darkness that violence brings, there is a ray of light. We have seen forgiveness, we have found strength and we have found hope. We, as a community, have repeatedly come together to offer support and comfort to our sisters and brothers. We bond by the raw emotions we feel as humans and the desire to rebuild ourselves when tragedy strikes. We have the power to stop violence and to stand tall in the face of adversity. We have the power to live as one.

"You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one"