Innocence Lost

This blog originally posted Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Current mood: sad Category: Life

Here we go again. Another school shooting. Another mass murder. Another group of families broken.

Soon you'll see a wave of answers to the problem from armchair quarterbacks who get paid for having answers (whether they work or not). Control guns so people don't hurt themselves. Allow more guns so people can protect themselves. Lock down the schools. Require diversity training so people treat each other better. More laws. Less laws.

Then comes the blame. The shooter. The school didn't do enough. The police didn't do enough. The family of the shooter. Even the students at the university.

Then the hollow explanations. He was a distressed kid. His girlfriend left him. He was a loner. He was bullied. He was abused. He had psychological problems.

All of these are empty attempts to control the uncontrollable; to explain the unexplainable, to define the undefinable. But, they just don't help... Do they?

We like to think that people are basically good and that life is forever. These are sweet and beautiful childhood beliefs, but they are simply not true.

Politics can't change people's hearts. Philosophy fails. Laws can't control behavior. Medicine can't fix what's wrong with us. Psychologists and sociologists have explanations but no solutions.
The truth here is that mankind is fundamentally broken. We humans just don't have the answers to our own problems. We cannot contol ourselves, let alone others.
This world is full of evil and pain, hatred and hurting, loneliness and destruction. There must be an answer outside of us. There must be something more. There has to be something fundamentally good. Without hope, what is the point?.....................

God. Your kingdom come. Lord, Your will be done. God this world needs You. Father, be with those families whose world has just been ripped apart. Savior, be there for those who have had their innocence torn from them yesterday. Lord, we seek answers for the evil that we face each day, and we turn to everything but you. Bring us comfort and truth. Let us feel your grace. Save us from ourselves. Amen.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. - - - John 14:27


P.S. The saddest part of all of this is the copycat events that are soon to follow.