Disclaimer: This post is a bit of a downer. If you're looking for a peppy, upbeat post, look elsewhere.
There was a shooting at a middle school near where I'm from today. A fourteen year old boy was shot in the head. He died this evening. It was a single incident and no others (from what I've heard) were injured. I saw some pictures of Todd Brown on a Facebook page dedicated to him and his family and began to weep. I had never met this boy or even heard of him, but my heart broke for him and his family. I do cry a lot, but not usually about incidents like this. My heart breaks and I feel sad, but never have I wept like this. I feel sick to my stomach about this whole situation.
I have recently been questioning whether my goal of researching adolescent antisocial behavior was worth pursuing, and this incident reinforced the goal. We can ask why things like this happen, but we must admit that we will never know while still on this Earth. But what we can ask and try to answer is how can we prevent such incidents, how we can aid others when such incidents happen, and how we can live our lives in a way that people feel they can talk to us when dealing with scary emotions that might lead to incidents like this.
I've really been musing over life in general lately. What is going to become of our society? My generation? I watched most of a musical my friend Creaves introduced me to entitled Tanz der Vampire, which takes place probably in the 1800's (I'm guessing). One of the main characters, Count Krolock (a vampire), sings a song talking about how people just feed their seemingly unending appetite. He says something along the lines of (I'm paraphrasing), "I have a prediction that in the next millenium, the god most worshipped will be the god of appetite." That really stood out to me. How true is that statement? Our society is one of entitlement and instant gratification. We want more, more, more. More for me. Less for you. God created us for the sole purpose of glorifying and worshipping Him. But instead so many just chase after a false god that leaves us empty and searching.
Hungry I come to You
For I know you satistfy.
I am empty
But I know Your love does not run dry.
So I wait for You.
Yes, I wait for you.
(From "Hungry" by Kathryn Scott)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYlpIdEyzX4
Please pray for the Brown family and the students, faculty, and staff of Discovery Middle School, as well as the city/government officials who are working on this case.
“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. “Moreover, wine (wealth) is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples.” Hab 2:4-5 (ESV)
ReplyDelete“Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own— for how long?— and loads himself with pledges!” Hab 2:6 (ESV)
but rejoice ..
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places..
Hab 3:17-19 (ESV)
I will be praying for the family of Todd Brown. Thanks for sharing.
"ALL things work for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose." I'll be praying for the school, family and you. May God's will be fulfilled and His glory be revealed despite this disaster.
ReplyDeleteCan I just say how happy it made me that "Die Unstillbare Gier" (or Endless Appetite) also appealed to you? It's the first song I watched in its entirety from the song, knew nothing of German or the show, and sobbed over the song. And once I knew the translation, I knew why! It's so true...Krolock's line in the song that most gets to me is this:
ReplyDeleteThere are those who believe in various gods
In nations and knowledge, in hell and in heaven,
The powers of darkness, the assumption of the light
But I believe in just one god
That of endless and insatiable,
immoral, indestructable,
And all-consuming appetite.
Yeah. It's my worldview on days such as this, hearing about that tragedy.