Matthew 19:14 “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as them.”
I don’t know how much you know about Twitter. Watching Twitter has become like instant polling. What’s “trending” on Twitter gives an instant idea of what people are think and talking about. Yesterday the number one trending subject #prayfornewtown.
It seems tragedy causes certain near universal reactions. We can learn a lot about ourselves if we consider these reactions.
Prayer. It seems everyone is calling folks to prayer over yesterday’s tragedy. Is the irony over our nation’s removal of prayer from school totally lost? Churches were filled on the days after 9/11 and attendance at church may be up tomorrow. But the health of a people isn’t measured by how they turn to God in times like these, but how they rely on Him always.
Appreciation. Facebook was filled yesterday with parents talking about hugging their kids or worrying about them at school. When we see how fragile the good things of life are, we can’t help but appreciate these things, if only briefly. While the tragedy was unfolding I was at my grand kid’s school at a Christmas program. It was very like the program that took place at that school in Connecticut a day earlier.
Anger. I noticed several comments about the need for harsher treatment of prisoners. Lots of “throw away the key” comments. The man who did this was never in prison. This isn’t a case of a failed judicial system. Most of the folks expressing this anger have never been in a prison. I have. In the main, prisoners are NOT coddled in this country. But anger is seldom rational. Like all the new talk about gun control. Anger is misplaced and seldom useful.
Harsh reality. We see so much violence on television and in movies that it becomes unreal. What happened yesterday isn’t a movie. It’s real life horror. That can’t be denied. We need to realize that horrible things are happening every day. We have blocked from our minds the daily horrors in places like Sudan until they happen in places like Connecticut.
Today let’s join in prayer with many who aren’t used to praying. Let’s be thankful for the little ones we have. Let’s recognize the real problem: too much world and not enough Jesus.
Let’s get back on mission to do something about that. Let’s do what can be done and not spend too much time on lamenting what’s tragically happened.
Be blessed.
Nick
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