My usual response to those who may have expressed concern
was “it’s not safe anywhere anymore.” A
few years ago, a student at the University of Oklahoma was blown in half when
the bomb in his backpack detonated; the explosion rocked my apartment and
rattled my windows. It was called a “lone
suicide”, and not considered a possible terrorist attack, although several
hundred feet away over 80,000 fans were packed into Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
to watch OU play Kansas State. I have
never heard of a person going through all the trouble to make a bomb with the
intention of blowing up only himself.
Last night I awoke at midnight to the news of what happened
at the Boston Marathon a couple hours before.
I thought I was dreaming. My first
reaction to events like these is always anger.
It makes me angry that a person can be so filled with hate to snuff out
the lives of others. It makes me angry
it is not safe to enjoy routine things like going to a movie, a football game,
school, or in this case running a marathon.
In America, the hot issue still is gun control. I, along with many, many others, am
frustrated: guns are not the problem.
Yes, guns make it easier to commit violent crimes and cause injury and
death, but so do common household chemicals that are used to cook meth; once
taken, the actions of that person are unpredictable, and meth lab explosions
are common. Cars kill thousands every
year when alcohol is consumed and then the person who is drunk sits behind the
wheel; all the rocks in Israel should be done away with so no one else can
fling them at human targets (recently a baby); all planes should be grounded so
they cannot be hijacked…the list goes on.
What do all these “weapons” have in common? People.
I have no intention here of getting very deep, or I may
never find my way back out. In all
truth, I feel these are just the random thoughts of a person on little sleep,
but I am conscious enough to know one thing: the objects themselves are not the
problem—we are. I include myself because
I am human and I am seriously flawed and capable of doing great harm. People are flawed. It doesn’t make sense to me to get so worked
up over “God” being mentioned in school to ban prayer, material, and anything
else that may “offend” people who don’t believe in Him, only for the same
people to get mad at Him when little kids are shot at school and wonder where
He was; and then (and only then) is it ok to say a prayer. Why can’t we pray before the tragedy
strikes as opposed to after? If praying
after a tragedy produces results (if not why bother praying at all?), then why
is it ludicrous to think that praying before might prevent it? Why are people in America screaming about
tolerance and equality when being a Christian is not tolerated or treated
equally?
Yes I am a Christian.
Yes I believe in the Bible, from the first letter in Genesis 1 to the
last letter in Revelation 22. Yes I
believe the Bible is the only truth. Yes
I believe in a heaven and yes I believe in a hell. How could a loving God send people to
hell? He doesn’t. The choice is ours. Hell was not created for us. God loves us so much He sent His only Son to
this earth to be ridiculed, tortured, mutilated, and nailed to a tree naked on
display for all to see. And He did all
this for you. Why? It took me a long time to figure that one
out. Jeremiah 17:9 says “the heart is
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?” “Desperately wicked” in the Hebrew means “incurably
sick”…wow. We are doomed, no? Isn’t that how someone would feel after being
diagnosed with terminal cancer? They’re
told there’s nothing that can be done.
They have a horrible disease, and it will kill them. Everyone is born into the world with heart
cancer. No amount of chemo can eradicate
it, we cannot eat enough healthy foods to heal it, we can give, give, give and
do, do, do and still we will fall short.
To think our hearts are wicked is not easy to accept. Everyone wants to be a good person or thinks
they’re a good person. By whose
standards? The hijackers on 9/11 thought
they were good people because they were fulfilling a “holy” mission. Were they?
What are we measuring ourselves by?
If we get down to it and examine ourselves honestly and realistically,
we’ll know the answer. It took me 19
years to realize I was on a destructive path and that I was incapable of
changing myself. I am incapable of
keeping just ten commandments, let alone the other 603 listed in the Old
Testament.
Does passing a law keep the act from being committed? No, it just creates consequences for transgressing it. Isn’t the old cliché “rules are made to be
broken” really true? We can’t help
ourselves. And that’s the problem. I was just reminded of an episode on
T.V. It was one of those medical dramas,
and there was a patient talking with one of the doctors. The patient was a pedophile, and he was
begging the doctor to castrate him because he didn’t trust himself; he knew eventually
he would go after more children. Wow. What lengths would you go to in order to keep
yourself from doing that “one thing”? Or
do you think of someone else and say “at least I’m not like that person…” to
make yourself feel better? Why spend so
much time medicating when you can have the cure?
Jesus lived a perfect life, he never sinned. He was God in flesh. He fulfilled the law we are incapable of
keeping. Sacrifices were carried out all
through the Old Testament, right up to the destruction of the Second Temple in
70 A.D. Blood had to be shed to atone
for sin. Jesus was the ultimate,
perfect, and final sacrifice. According
to the Law, I am supposed to be on that cross.
And so are you. And the rest of
humanity. But Jesus took your spot. He took mine.
After accepting Christ, I noticed a difference in me. Others noticed a difference in me. At the time I couldn’t explain it, I just
knew it was true. For example, all of a
sudden I wanted to read the Bible, so I went and bought one, and devoured
it. Over the years, I have changed. I am still changing, and I will always be
changing; it’s an ongoing process. It’s
nothing I have done, in the sense of being able to change myself. God, through the Holy Spirit, has changed me
and is changing me; the only thing I can do is let Him.
Well this was the last thing I planned on writing today, but
maybe it needed to be said. Maybe I’ll receive
some hate mail now, and that’s ok.
Whether or not you believe in a God or the Bible, I can say without a
doubt that He is real. He is not dead,
He is alive.
One year ago today, my grandfather passed away. He suffered a massive stroke in 2009 that
left him unable to care for himself or even recognize people. I visited one day and he knew I was now
living in Oklahoma and remembered that I had been skydiving, but he couldn’t
remember my name. The last time I saw
him alive was a year ago last month just before Easter. He was excited to see me, told me several
times he loved me, but again didn’t know my name. But I knew that he knew me. The most incredible thing happened; a lady
from the local church, a very old friend of the family, had stopped to visit at
the same time, and went to the piano I remember him always playing, and started
to play old hymns. He lit up like a
Christmas tree, trying to sing the words, snapping his fingers on his one good
hand. And then he started to cry. When my aunt went to him and asked why he was
crying, he mumbled he was happy. My
parents and I had a long drive ahead of us, so before leaving we all held hands
and Mrs. Snow prayed for us and for my grandfather. I held his bad hand, the one he could no
longer use, and was overcome to hear him praying next to me, saying “Amen” and “thank
You Jesus” several times. Though the
stroke caused extensive damage to his mental and physical capabilities, he
still knew his Lord. If you ask me,
Jesus’ name was the one most worth remembering.
There are a lot of people reading my blog that I do not know
personally; according to the stats I also have followers from Russia and
Germany; I think that’s awesome. I will
say that if anyone has any questions, statements, complaints, what have you, I
have set up an email account you can write them to: staceyinisrael@gmail.com
Of course public comments are still welcome.
I will end this post by saying that I am saddened by the
recent events in Boston and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I found
out. I am and will continue to pray for
those affected by this horrific tragedy.
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