Sometimes when you write two columns a week, you try to will the creative process to your timetable or spark it with a dose of culture. Other times it all just comes rushing in.

I cannot explain why or how, but when Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and others at a Safeway in Arizona were shot last weekend, my mind went to three books on my shelf — A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson, A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle and Love for No Reason by Marci Shimoff. The first two are classics filled with wisdom and the third is hot off the presses and I just happened to be reading it to start the New Year.

Even in this age where information is dispensed instantly, I was stunned at the knee-jerk reactions to this tragedy, first from many on the left and then from the right in response. Egos clashing with egos and the madness continues. There’s love in there somewhere.

Today’s Game Plan: Shedding Ego in a Shooting’s Aftermath