I tried to think, last night, what it must have been like to
get a call to go to the elementary school where your child was attending
because there had been a shooting. I tried to comprehend what went through
those parents’ minds when they arrived on the scene and saw all the police
units; fire engines and ambulances. Then being directed to the fire station to
frantically search for their child amongst the survivors. Lastly, I tried to
somehow imagine what was going through those parents’ minds when their child
wasn’t amongst the living; and they were directed to another room to receive
the bad news that some homicidal manic had killed their child. Then, at some
point, they had to gather themselves together and go home to the rest of their
family and share the news. That night they sat in their child’s
bedroom—broken-hearted and sobbing amongst their toys and possessions. Hugging
their pillow, and perhaps a Tickle-Me-Elmo Doll to their chest, just to smell
their child’s scent and to soak up their tears until they could cry no more.
Gifts are under the Christmas tree that will never be opened.
I doubt the moviemakers could write a script like this. I
don’t doubt that some day they will try. That day will come because what we
witnessed yesterday is becoming commonplace in our society. As a Christian man,
I live by two sets of laws. One of them, God’s laws, because I want to—and one
of them, man’s laws because I have to. God’s laws aren’t open to change and
misinterpretation. They are what they are. He is the judge and jury. His laws
are final and concrete. Man’s laws once resembled God’s laws in this country
when it was first formed. But it was a tough road for some people, and not much
fun to live that way, so we changed them—now look what we have. Ah yes, we do
have our freedoms but are our freedoms now our curse?
What kind of a creature can kill babies? Who can shoot an
innocent child as he cowers in front of you screaming and crying because he
just witnessed his teacher and his classmate being killed? Even animals will
fight to the death to protect their young. We’re supposed to be ahead of
animals on the food chain. I question that sometimes. Mental health experts
have said we need to spend more money on mental health issues. How about we
stop these people from becoming this way in the first place, by cleaning up the
environment they are raised in? They weren’t born this way. Maybe we need to
get back to God’s laws. That’s cheaper and easier than new hospitals and more
prisons. I’m an old man now, but I do have one up on the younger generation.
Every day, all of us make choices between good and evil in life—because we have
seen good and evil—and the wisdom of age helps so much in those comparisons
that are part of life’s bargaining process. Too many of the younger people
today have no benchmark to go back to because all they have known is what we
have today. That’s not their fault—that’s our fault. We’re the ones that let it
slip away. So now we need them to try and change it before it’s too late. Why? Because we have passed the torch
and they are now in charge. When is it too late? I know twenty-seven families
in Connecticut who it’s too late for. How many more times must we go through
this before we change?
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