In the aftermath of the tragedy at Virginia Tech this past Monday, we are all wondering why? And what is it about April that is bringing out the beast with too much regularity? Virginia is a long way from where I live, but the evil and the hate and the hopelessness that causes these events isn't.
We need to pray for our nation today – right now - and specifically for students on college campuses, high schools, junior high schools, – every school. May God lift the despair and fear from the hearts of our young; may they be merciful as God is to them; may they be respected and respect others; may they be strong and courageous in their actions and character; let them long for and be instruments of Your peace; God, make us a people of humility, of compassion, -people who will take responsibility for our actions. Make us grateful for what we have and deliver us of the stupor of taking our rights and liberties and freedoms and daily blessings for granted. Keep our children safe, God, today…tomorrow…and as the days go on. Give them peace in their minds and hearts and emotions. Send people to rescue the hurting and desperate, Lord. Send some one…
Virginia Tech massacre – April 16, 2007
Columbine High School massacre – April 20, 1999
Oklahoma City bombings April 19, 1995
God, help us. J-
NOTE: "To do evil is like sport to a fool…" Proverbs 10. 23 NKJV
Amen.
Amen, Honey. We are a society who thrives in assessing blame. Spurred on by the media, we have become a society of psychologists, analyzers and commentators. Why? Why do people do what they do? We blame government because Cho was able to buy guns so easily. In the last few days, Autism has become the culprit. Anti-social behavior, that’s always a good one. Or maybe it IS a hate crime against America. And what of Harris and Klebold and McVee? All home town boys. No Asian or Middle Eastern genes among them. In McVee’s case, there was no three day waiting period on buying fertilizer. The anti-social behavior for Harris and Klebold was apparent due to their black trench coats. We can all play the shoulda-woulda-coulda game and our hindsight is always 20/20. If only someone would have seen. If we could have only caught it in time. We should have seen it coming. It was the professor’s fault. If the police would have acted quicker. If someone would have just talked to them. We are a people of fault finding. We desire to lay blame at the feet of everyone and anyone that is available. It was their upbringing. It was their environment. They didn’t breast feed long enough. They breast fed too long. Why? Why? Why? Our young people are growing up in an environment of complacency. We just don’t care about things anymore. And certainly not life. We don’t care about our marriages; so if it gets too hard, get out. We are inundated with tabloids that spread their fodder about nine day nuptuals, fights over million dollar babies and which 3rd world child will be adopted this week by Rosie, Madonna or Angelina and Brad- who are not still together, or maybe this week they are? Our young people have grown up in a culture that is self-absorbing, self-righteous, self-conscious and self-serving. It’s all about MY rights. Here’s one: I lay the blame at the feet of Burger King! They started it all with their catch phrase, “Have it YOUR way!” I’m being facetious, of course. But in a small way, it mirrors what is happening. Very few people take responsibility for their actions. When was the last time that you heard a politician stand up and apologize for really screwing up? I don’t recall any CEOs as of late, saying: “Yeah, it was me. I was wrong”. No, if we spill hot coffee in our lap, it’s McDonald’s fault. If, someone gets in your face, sue ‘em. If a teacher corrects you in school, bring it before the Board of Education. If someone cuts you off in traffic, flip ‘em off. Or better yet, shoot ‘em. Because after all, my sweet little precious puddin’, it’s all about YOUR rights. If you go on a mass murdering spree, blame your mother. I would submit to you, that our society is not “Punked” we are “Whacked”! To quote a line from a 1982 ditty and arguably the best Star Trek movie of the series, Star Trek II The Wrath of Kahn: “…I’m still here, Kahn. Like a poor marksman, you keep missing the target…” We’ve let fly our arrows but… We don’t respect life. There was a memo sent out this week where I work in the Tech Center. It was concerning two Canadian geese. It seems that the male has taken over one particular part of the sidewalk in order to protect the female that sits up against the building, in the bushes, on the nest. Our memo was company wide and transcended all other companies in our campus. It was a lengthy memo to inform us of the situation that the male had flapped and squawked and scratched and bit at some of the employees coming into the building. We were informed that Colorado Game, Fish and Wildlife were not going to do anything about the incident because it would not be in the goose’s best interest to relocate the nest. So we were informed that we were to not use the sidewalk and not harass the geese until the little tikes hatched. Now I like geese as much as the next fella. They are cute and I like being one with nature. When I passed by them this week, we both nodded and I went on my way to teach my class and the goose went back to drinking out of the gutter. But we’re a bubble off plumb here… Let’s look at the global community: We live in a world where we destroy our young for convenience sake. We sexually exploit our men, women and children on the internet for entertainment’s sake. In certain countries it’s thought that if one has sex with a child that the AIDS that you are riddled with is transferred to them and you are cured. We enslave people for diamond’s sake. (I saw Blood Diamond too) Entire communities are held captive by war lords, for food’s sake. Rape, violence, murder and destruction permeate our nation and our world. We slaughter the innocent, both young and old. We glorify marital infidelity. But the most important issue is whether Senjia is still holding on by his fingernails on American Idol. But above all else, don’t harass the geese! We cannot immerse our children in a society that devalues life and our fellow human being and expect anything less than rampages in dormitories. Our only hope is Jesus Christ. The crimson thread of blood letting has permeated our world since Cain offed Abel. We won’t stop it with more laws. It will not be silenced with stricter social content and being able to make an well informed decision. It will not be halted by government regulation. It will only be stopped when our hearts are changed. My prayers go out for the victim’s families of yet another tragedy that seems to have become so commonplace in our nation. I pray for their comfort and peace even though there may never be understanding for what has occurred. I pray for God’s arms of love to encircle them and hold them in this time. Amen dave
I love the formatting on blogs. It drives us writers crazy! To inform you all, I did actually have paragraphs in my comments! dave