ReasonForOurHope

Friday, July 20, 2012

Terror and Courage

"Eternal Rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.  May their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen."

Terror.

That is what the Colorado madman wanted.  That is what the Columbine monsters wanted.  That is what the 9/11 hijackers wanted.

Monsters like this want to hurt us all.  They hate us all.  They take something we do every day like going to school, riding an airplane, or going to the movies and they want to make us afraid.  Fill us with terror.

How many of us are honestly now afraid to go to the movies?  If we are, then that's the point.  I'm not saying that the fear is unfounded, for there could be more unstable copycats out there.  We think that it could have been us in that theater.  It could have been us in that plane.  It could have been us in that school.

This maniac wants us to cower.  He wants to destroy our sense of peace.  He wants us jumping out of our skins while doing the most commonplace tasks.  He wants to have that power over us.

How do we live in this kind of world?  This man killed a dozen, maybe more, of God's children and he smiles.  He smiles.

He murdered a baby and he smiles.  He smiles.

How do we fight back?

Courage.

We cannot give the world's worst villains the power to define our lives.

The Holy Bible says 365 times "Do not be afraid."  To be sure our hearts break.  People whose only crime was to enjoy a movie are now injured and dead.  To be sure we are angry.  We hope that justice falls swiftly and forcefully on this terrorist.  But we must not be afraid to live our lives.

If we are, then he gets exactly what he wants.

May the Lord give us the strength and the courage to bring His light to this darkness.

"The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."  (John 1:5)

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