"Menace Unaware" Revisited

"A Revisit to a tragic lament..."

Morgan Freeman's statement about these random shootings....

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single victim of Columbine? Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem."

This man's words are so in tune with my own thoughts. I have watched the media coverage of the school shooting in Conneticut as well as the mall shooting in Portland, Oregon and in addition many may not know of the stabbing spree at a school in central China. There was also a threat of another school shooting that would happen on December 21st, the supposed date of the end of the world according to the Mayan calendar. How do we make sense of these happenings? Well, first of all, do we have to? The way I see it, there really is no clear explanation. There is no way to make sense. Yah, police and authorities conduct investigations and try to determine the motive, but how much does the motive matter? Will that really prevent another killer to storm a public square or school heavily armed? More importantly, will that bring back the lives of the victims? No, of course not.

As a friend of mine put it:

"As I too tried to make sense of today's entirely evil tragedy, I thought of two things. The first is this, "Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good." The second thing I pondered was how many people would say, "Next time one of these (insert any profanity you would like) decides to shoot some people I hope they just save us the trouble and kill themselves." I would like to stand against that mentality. I DO STAND AGAINST IT. Hate upon hate is not where we will find an answer to these atrocities. Instead I want to say, do say, and will say in Jesus' name, "I love you. Next time one of you wants to shoot someone, shoot me. I'll die for you." Only real, true, self-denying love will bring us any relief from the torent of evil which we find ourselves, our friends, and our children facing far too often these days."

I will stand with you.

"The nation of Israel has armed its teachers to protect their children and America has disarmed theirs." That is but one of the hundreds of posts on facebook that was released after the Sandy Hook massacre. Where there is some truth to these posts, I don't necessarily agree with the idea of sharing them with the whole online community. Sure, some things need to be said, but others need to be kept to yourself. The news media does similar things. After terrorist bombings and attacks such as 9/11, the media all but gave us the materials for bomb making. There is a line that must be drawn between reporting the news and retorting the news. Also, what some may deem "newsworthy" may not be. The shooting in Connecticut will be on the news and will be talked about for months to come, and yes, it must not be forgotten, I mean, we still hear about 9/11 which happened 11 years ago. However, let us forget about the killer(s), and rather, as Mr. Freeman pointed out, let us remember the victims and move on in light of recent happenings. I have refrained from joining the majority and posting yet another post on Facebook to the tune of "our hearts are broken," "gun control laws are not strict enough," "I cannot even imagine..." I am not making fun mind you. On the contrary, tears of anger and sadness welled in my eyes as I flipped from channel to channel reporting the tragedy on the east coast. I have no kids of my own, but I do have two nieces the ages of some of the victims and have worked with children of all ages for the past 16 years. So in light of recent events, I choose not to waste my energy to make sense of this. Some people say we now live in Hell. But I will say, we live on earth and that is where evil flourishes. Hell is not a place of evil. Hell is a place where people who deny Jesus Christ will end up, whether they are evil or not. I have also heard it said that "God is not allowed in schools, therefore He cannot influence the education system," or something to that effect. That is a bunch of rubbish. Nowhere has prayer been banned nor has God been banned. Did you even listen to that? God created the world, why would He create some place that He cannot enter? He was with me in public school and I prayed in public school. Sure, the system or government can use words to say we cannot pray or don't want religious activities to take place, but really, how do they monitor prayer without mind control technology? This is just laughable stuff.

Who are we to decide who should live and die? Do we deserve to die? Do killers deserve to die? Do schoolchildren deserve to die? The answer to both is yes. Both are human and that is a part of the human condition. The fact is the wages of sin, evildoings is death, but alas, we have a God who cares for us and does not want to see us die so He offered His Son in our place so we do not have to perish. Is man basically good or bad? Well, the answer if you have read your Bible is that man is basically bad. We all have the capacity for murder and we all have the capacity for kindness. But Jesus said it Himself, "No one is good but God alone." Yes there are people who believe that man is good until corrupted by society. My own brother denies the fact of a sin nature. This is not to say that we should all just give up and give in to what will happen. Yes, there are things we can do to take action and better prepare ourselves, but dang it...it is not God's fault that gunmen enter schools and theaters and kill innocent victims. For in the bigger scheme of things, no one is innocent. But we all live here together...maybe not in harmony, but we all live here in this vapor of a life.

Do I have an answer to make sense of all these things? No...I just know how to express my thoughts and leave it to others to form their own opinions and allegations. Too much time is spent questioning and too little time is spent living. I am as guilty as anyone. The meaning of most things, especially sacred things has been forgotten, diluted or misrepresented. This Christmas season is a perfect example...even to the extent that the government refers to Christmas trees as "holiday trees." Happy Holidays. Really? Who really says that about any other holiday? Labor Day? Memorial Day? Easter? Valentines' Day? Even secular tv shows that promote homosexuality, immoral acts, bullying, school and government corruption use Christmas songs with no clue of what the lyrics refer to such as First Noel, O Holy Night, etc. I was watching the news last night when Entertainment Tonight began with the report of the recent school shooting. I thought, why is an entertainment show reporting this? Well then it came. Several celebrities were reported as having "tweeted" or "facebooked" different comments as "Our hearts go out...blah blah blah We must pray." Most of them said something about praying in this time of need...pray to who? I am no one to judge, but I will pray to the one true God, but what about those folks who do not believe in Him, who do they pray to? Well, they only seem to utter that word when something terrible and heart-breaking happens. Oh, just because some wealthy, famous person said something...it moves me...deeply. HA. It's like when you walk into the library, there's huge posters of celebrities holding copies of classic novels (which they probably have never read themselves) to get the idea into the minds of the general public that reading is cool. I think not. Yes, I do think reading is very cool and worthwhile, but not because some hotshot celebrity is holding a book in a picture. Naivety anyone?

How are we suppose to be safe in this world? How do we keep our kids safe? Well, there is no one fail-safe way. Swing sets are too dangerous for school playgrounds so they were banned in Oregon...but one example of our ridiculous world. Kids don't know how to have fun anymore. Perhaps they are too afraid to, but that is a topic for another time. Good people will do nothing and thus evil will flourish.

All this to say...menaces are among us...in our neighborhoods, schools, churches, camps, households, cities, our countries. Some are very much aware and in turn are identified and in the case of people, may be locked up, but many, the most dangerous...are unaware...until they become aware. That is the scariest thing in my mind. The 20-year-old who shot the 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary had 20 years under his belt...until he became aware, in an attempt to become famous after death? Well, as Mr. Freeman said, the media made it so that someone else can top it. Emotions run wild in this time of need. How do we respond to crisis? Well, we have become complacent...until something terrible happens, and then we utter the prayer word.

Heal our land Lord, and when the next menace surfaces, give us the wisdom and courage to do what is right. Let us stand against these menaces unawares. Rather than merely report savages and cringe tragedies, let us "abhor what is evil, and cling...CLING...to what is good."

(**First written & published on December 15, 2012**)

**REVISITATION**

"Cling to what is good." The term 'cling' is a powerful one. It means to hold on to, never let go, grasp, clutch like a leach. "Abhor what is evil." Evil is distasteful and leaves a bad taste in your mouth...and it rots those who were once good. But alas, what or who is good? God alone. The Father is the only good this world will ever see. Jesus said, "No one is good but God alone." The truth of the matter is that we are all capable of evil. We have a sinful nature. We are born sinners. The school shooters, the terrorists behind the attacks, the thieves and murderers among us...they are all human. They were born and had a mother and a father. I'm not saying their lives were perfect and their families loved them, but they are human. Crimes against humanity? Well, that would be a crime against yourself.

It really boils down to the matter of what we ought to dwell on. These people want us to dwell on them, but they must be forgotten. We must remember those who perished, remember their good acts and their loving lives. We must mourn, even in a country that disgraces mourning. But we must also remember...Many countries mourn for a long time. They cry out and grieve. This is odd to Americans because in this country it is "pull yourself together. Pull yourself up by your bootstrap and move on." We are a go, go, go culture that we have no time to mourn the loss. Jesus himself told us on the mount: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." His words are words of promise. He never lies. His words provide comfort. Let us mourn, we will be comforted...

There is another side of Grief
Where the tears still flow
not as often
Where memories bring smiles
not just sadnes
Where blessing are recognized
not just struggles
Where joy and peace are present
not just sorrow
Where you are remembered
not just mourned