(photo: Ucluelet, Vancouver Island, British Columbia 2011)
Psalm 143
Lord, hear my prayer,
listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
come to my relief.
Do not bring your servant into judgment,
for no one living is righteous before you.
The enemy pursues me,
he crushes me to the ground;
he makes me dwell in the darkness
like those long dead.
So my spirit grows faint within me;
my heart within me is dismayed.
I remember the days of long ago;
I meditate on all your works
and consider what your hands have done.
I spread out my hands to you;
I thirst for you like a parched land.[a]
Answer me quickly, Lord;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I entrust my life.
Rescue me from my enemies, Lord,
for I hide myself in you.
Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.
For your name’s sake, Lord, preserve my life;
in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.
In your unfailing love, silence my enemies;
destroy all my foes,
for I am your servant.
When terrible things happen such as in Boston yesterday… or in Connecticut in December, or last July in Colorado, or…..as the list goes on….
I think so many of us yearn to seek an answer, a reason, an explanation…often without such ever materializing. We all hurt and ache for the victims. There is helplessness and sorrow. There is tremendous pain and suffering. We are left devastated, sad, empty.
My blogging is not intended to be one of social commentary. All I am in this life is that of a wife, a mom, a daughter, a friend, a teacher…..I just want to write and share about the little things that make my life, my life, through the lens that is my life—–however, when terrible things take place, like yesterday, and for all of the yesterdays before…I am left, like many, simply numb.
I taught teenagers for 31 years. I was a surrogate mom and often only one of the few “positive role models” the kids had, as school was, for some of them, their only safe haven. I would often tell my kids that what it is we consume, we often become—be that good or bad. It is all a matter of choice. But it is a hard and difficult choice that must be a conscious and vigilant decision every waking hour.
When will our society figure out that the violence that is so casually thrown about on the television we watch each evening, in the movies we pay to go see, in the magazines we buy, in the music we listen to….a bad choice of consumption? When will we figure out that “action packed” does not need to equate to death, shooting, raping, abusing, etc……
When will we figure out that shows depicting serial killers, cannibalism, murder, decapitations, kidnappings, rapes…. is not entertainment?! It is it seems, for us, that even our “entertainment” is now troubling. Life is hard enough, why do we wish to have such “entertain” us?
There are those who would argue that TV, the movies, the entire “entertainment industry” has nothing to do with these needless acts of violence…but I tend to disagree. There is a desensitization that takes place and a disconnect. But like I say, this is not my intent to argue what I think makes us do the things we do—-but I just can’t help to wonder as to why yesterday had to happen, or why Sandy Hook had to happen…..
I join with a world community in continued prayers for the victims of yesterday’s senseless and cowardice act of violence. I continue to pray for not only the physical healing but for the emotional healing as well…and those prayers continue for the victims of the previous traumatic acts of violence in this world of ours—I hope one day we can figure out how to lessen it all, we will never be able to eradicate all violence, but we must start somewhere.
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