I'm sitting here staring at my brand new 23" widescreen LG monitor, in something of a stupor. The tragic shootings yesterday in Arizona have wiped away all cogent thoughts regarding fiction writing. Earlier this morning, I watched an interview with the mother of that sweet nine year old girl who was shot down along with a congresswoman, a judge, and over a dozen more innocent victims. Her mother was clearly heartbroken, as was the interviewer.
Yet, they were able to talk about the girl and how their (and her) faith would carry them through this tragedy. Unable to focus on more aspects of the event, I turned the TV off and went to a Sirius sattelite classic music channel for comfort. What were they playing when I tuned in? Ravel's Pavanne for a Dead Princess. Mrs. Green had just called her deceased daughter a Princess. I couldn't speak for minutes after the last poignant note died away.
I have a grand daughter who is nine. Thoughts about what would happen if it were my Maren who had been standing there when that deranged monster began firing crossed my mind. Would I have the strength to answer questions and share my heart with the world at large?
I'd like to think so. We all would, I'm sure. But my grand daughter has been prevented from being able to choose whether she wants to go through life with faith in a living God because her father and mother have fallen prey to the incoherent rantings of countless professors and an amoral media who believe, fools that they are, that they are too intelligent to fall for religion.
My daughter had no such restrictions as a child, and accepted Christ early in her life. Sadly, she apparently does not remember the time when, as a first grader in Catholic school, she fell down a flight of concrete stairs. One of the sisters went to her and began praying to Mary. She told the sister to pray to Jesus because He was the one to pray to, not His mother. She also witnessed miraculous healing events that took place in our family and other clear evidence that God exists.
Sadly, as an adult she now 'believes' there is no god and her parents are fools for continuing to believe. How would she handle this if it were her daughter who'd been shot by that madman? I don't know, but my prayers in addition to the victims of the shootings and their families are for her and her bull-headed husband to reconsider the matter of faith. If we're all basically just overgrown monkeys, what's the difference anyway?
I have many other thoughts on different aspects of the brutal crime that was committed in Tucson but they'll have to wait for another day. Today, I thank my God that more people were not slaughtered by that poor fool and pray for Him to watch over the survivors, giving strength and recovery to each one of them and their families. If you would like to comment, please do so but I ask you not to bring up political considerations at this time. Just remember, people kill people, not guns. Or knives, or clubs, or any other inanimate things. Bad things happen to good people all the time; conversely, good things happen to bad people all the time. And one of the risks of our great form of government is that bad people will commit this kind of crime. An open and free nation depends on our being able to walk freely and speak freely. If we close our doors and our mouths, living in fear that someone will do this to us, we've already lost. They don't need to fire a single shot to shut us down. Shortly after that happens, we'll no longer have a democracy to enjoy.
My thoughts on a sad, sad day in America.
Dale
