“I left my Christmas lights on all last night, so the babies could see them from Heaven.”
I have been around the block a few times. Over the years, my life’s path has shown me more than a few unpleasant things. But this day, there is a knot in my stomach that won’t go away. I don’t know if I want to scream or cry. I feel as though I must do something. So for the moment I’m just talking to God and writing.
As a political pundit though, I’m going to get this out of the way up front. And just because of my aversion to all the fools out there who would politicize and exploit the tragedy in Newtown, while the bodies of those children still lie frozen in time on the floor of their elementary school. This is my post on Facebook after the incident occurred, and I will leave it at that for the moment.
“Even more frustrating and disgusting, is to hear politicians and “media types” already rushing to the debate over gun control. Uninformed, irresponsible, incentive and disrespectful. For my part, I will pray for the loved and lost and say simply that this is big picture. And only after we bury our dead and tearfully comfort those left behind, will it be time for sensible and serious non-political folks to bring hearts and minds to the table of honest thought, so we may contemplate what truly ails our wounded society.”
The one constant that keeps coming to my mind concerning the events of yesterday in Connecticut, is something Bill O’Reilly of “The Factor” said on his program last evening. -“We can’t stop it“. Part of me believes he is right. Politics aside, how do you stop an individual who is unstable and proceeding unchecked from that instability? Moreover, I believe evil is real, often manifesting itself in human form and committing these nightmarish crimes against the innocent. So where does that leave us?
I’ll tell you where I believe it leaves us. It leaves us back at the beginning, back at the time when we decided that God had no place in our children’s classrooms, or in the halls of higher education and government. It leaves us in the place where we have become desensitized to the horror of war, violent crime and death, which are all now glamorized within the incredible graphics of the latest video games we allow our children to play. It leaves many families overworked and extended beyond their ability to see the warning signs. So much so that in some cases it is often too late to stop the resulting explosion of rage. And it leaves us running straight back to the arms of a loving God, who I believe is disappointed in the way we are living his gift to us, but willing to embrace our wounded souls nevertheless.
Look, I am not placing blame but rather applying what I can clearly see to any possible explanation for what seems unexplainable. I’m very sure the ensuing law enforcement investigation will begin to shed light on the events which led to this unimaginable act of violence. Regrettably, there will also be a great push by those of questionable intent to frame it in one way or another. Many facts will be ignored for the sake of political posturing, and in the end the true lessons may even be lost. For this father of a boy age 10, it comes down to a couple of simple realities. First and foremost is to take hold of your children, and do not take for granted a love and bond like no other on planet earth. And secondly, we are simply not the “be all and end all” damn it!
Faith alone may not stop things like this from happening. But I believe in my heart that if we do not deny Him, and at least make an effort every day to walk as He would have us, then “God” will not deny us a better world…
