Comprehending the Incomprehensible

Newton Elementary shooting. Today. 26 Killed.

Oregon Shopping mall shooting. December. 2 Killed.

Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting. August. 6 Killed.

Aurora Colorado Movie Theater Shooting. July. 12 Killed.

Elizabeth Malloy Killed in Drunk Driving. January.1 Killed.

Sampson County Teen Shot by Father. December. 2 Killed.

Kansas City Chiefs Player Shooting. December. 2 Killed.

Dallas Cowboys Drunk Driving Crash.  December. 2 Killed.

When faced with the incomprehensible, where do you start? Time and time again, we’ve been wrecked by the news of another drunk driver claiming the live of someone around them, by the news of yet another shooting, or stabbing, or murder-suicide. And again today, our country reels from the news of 26 dead, 20 of them children. And, again, as we do every time, we begin to ask ourselves why, even when we know the answer.

I was on the phone with a customer who had tickets today for a Nutcracker performance in Alabama. The customer was clearly not from the US, she sounded like she was from eastern Europe, maybe Russia, and towards the end of the call, she asked me if the performance was to be cancelled due to the countries mourning. She said, she didn’t know how things went here in America. The more I’ve thought about this question, the more I’ve realized how things are here in America.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE this country. I’m proud to be an American, but, today, more than any other day, I’ve come to the conclusion that WE, as Americans played a part in the cause of this tragedy. Just think about that.

Today’s tragedy, these past, seemingly constant tragedies weren't caused by the unstable. Yes, they may be off their rockers a bit, but there's a deeper root, an underlying problem.

Our Culture, our people, our values, or likes have done this to us. We have done this to ourselves.

Our “stars”, or “celebrities” fool around, they sing about shooting it up, F the Police, their hoes, their swag, their drugs, their violence. We have developed a system, through valuing it and teaching it to our young that Violence, Killing, Revenge, Sleeping around, Adultery, Theft, Cheating is acceptable. Then, when an NFL player kills his girl friend in front of his mom, and kills himself in front of his coaches, its not so funny or popular any more. When a Millbrook teenager is thrown out of a vehicle to die because teen drinking and partying is encouraged, we wonder, why, who could have done this. When an NFL player kills his best friend because he’s too drunk to drive, we think, how sad. When numerous people shoot up religious institutions, movie theaters, street corners, and SCHOOLS, we wonder what has happened to our country. WE HAVE HAPPENED TO OUR COUNTRY. WE HAVE DONE THIS TO OURSELVES.

America, PLEASE. We have to STOP. We have to stop valuing music that glorifies teen drinking, music that glorifies sleeping around, violence, and a culture that says kill them if they wrong you. We have to stop valuing celebrities who bounce in and out of prison for killing people, countless felonies, drunk driving and possession. We have to stop making moves that promote unnecessary violence, and retaliation. We are causing this. We are. We play into this system that glorifies darkness, and wonder why when the night has come.

The only hope for us is that WE CANNOT FIX IT. That is our only hope. We cannot fix this death, this disease, this darkness. But there is a light, that burns BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN that is coming. Emmanuel, God WITH US. He has been born, he lived, he died, and then he conquered death, so that he could bring us, the dead, the diseased, the murderous, the sinning back to him in redemption. He has come for US.

So then, where do you start when faced with the incomprehensible? Start and End with Jesus, the only hope for our broken world. He has done it all. He is redeeming us to himself. He is Hope. He is light. He is LIFE.