Horrible things happen, people choose to hurt people, people choose to kill people and people choose to hate people.
This has happened from nearly the very beginning of time when Cain chose to kill his brother because he was overwhelmed with envy and it has continued to happen all though-out history and it continues to happen today.
It would be nice if there were easy answers. It would be nice if we could find logical explanations as to why people do what they do--because then we could fix it. Sometimes there is no answer, sometimes there is no fix. Pain and sorrow is woven into the very threads of this world, right alongside beauty and joy. Everyone dies at some point, when the people we love are ripped from our lives and our grasp it feels wrong, like life wasn't meant to end like this--that we were meant for so much more.
And now I am digressing away from the point I am going to try to make... My point is that as Christians we like to play this game too--we like to try to find sense in the senseless. Try to find a reason for the madness that seems to surround us in times of pain. But I would protest this and think that we should stop.
I am tired of these type of statements-- "This is what happens when a nation turns away from God." "Take God out of the schools and this is what you get" ect ect ad nauseum.
Really?
"Well Ming, we didn't have to worry about people shooting kids in school back in the day..."
"When I was in school this sort of thing didn't happen..."
No, back in the day people hung people from trees because they had a different shade of skin.
Back in the day protestant burned women at the stake for being suspected of witchcraft.
Back in the day William Tyndale was strangled and then burned for translating the Bible so people could read it.
Back in the day the Holocaust happened and millions of Jewish, special needs, and homosexuals--were all murdered.
Back in the day Nero was throwing people in jail and feeding them to the lions.
Back in the day John Calvin tortured and killed people because they didn't agree with him of matters of the faith.
Back in the day...you get the idea.
This world we live in though beautiful-is still a painful and messed up place.
Like I said before beauty and joy are a part of the tapestry of our lives--but sorrow and pain are woven along side as well.
Yes, the world today is messed up--but from what I can gather since the moment that our kind craved the knowledge of good and evil it has been that way.
Don't hear what I'm not saying--I'm not saying that I don't think that students should be allowed to pray or that we should take God out of everything. All I'm saying is that even if the government mandated that schools begin with prayer and that Christianity should be our country's "religion" bad things would still happen. There is no magic formula to cease atrocious things from happening in our world we have woven into the fabric.
So what are we to do? As someone who is in love with the very person and character of Jesus I'm going to try to do what he did--and that is love God and love people. Playing the judge and jury or using "discernment" when it comes to other people comes unfortunately like second nature to me. Loving people not so much...
What if instead of being known as judgmental we started being known for our love? What if instead of being known for all the things we are against--we became known for all the things that we are for? What if when people hear the term "Christian" they thought about how we care for the widows, orphans and poor, those in prison, the marginalized, those without homes, and the ones that even our society scorns and brushes to the outside--instead of our stances on gay marriage, abortion, drugs, alcohol, ect. What if we became known for our incredible grace, forgiveness and love? And what if we became known for that not because we have an agenda or because we are on a quest to change society--but because we actually loved people because of who they are...?
Now this is simply my own opinion and I could be wrong. I am only 22 and what I believe today will not be exactly what I believe in 5 years, that I can assure you-- so before telling me how incredibly wrong I am and how I need to be "legislating other people's morality and that grace and love are all good and fine in moderation but that we need to use discernment" and before getting defensive and mad at me--just know I realize that I am by no means the ultimate authority on this subject and these are just the crazy thoughts that run through my head at midnight when I have to get up at 5:50 ;)
But as always if I said anything to upset or offend anyone--or you do think I am totally wacko; please let me know I would very very much appreciate it :)
Love you all--goodnight and farewell
"There's nothing new about evil. This is our world, as it was, as it is, but not how it shall ever be." -Brant Hansen
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