In my life, I have been blessed to experience suffering in moderation. I cannot fathom the horrible and sudden tragedy beset upon so many families, as just occurred. They most certainly did not deserve to lose their family members. As with every such tragedy, whether caused by man or by nature, we always question "why do such things happen?" Only a mind that created and named every star in the sky has the answer to such questions. No matter how highly educated we become or how much wisdom we attain, we will never be able to offer up anything but feeble thoughts on why such things happen....other than they just happen and we must try to learn from it to prevent it from occurring in the future, if possible. Even with these lessons put before us on a daily basis, we learn little. Human nature is flawed to say the least.
Ask yourself how a 20 year old can gun down innocent children, and still buy your five year old video games that desensitize them to killing in cold blood, and let those games become your child's babysitter. Ask yourself why anyone outside a military brigade needs a semi-automatic rifle capable of holding a 30 round clip (thank God he left that one in his car), and yet, let the gun makers churn them out in mass quantities by stirring up public fear that they are needed for protection. The mere mention of banning assault weapons stirs up more anger than the shooting itself. Ask yourself why the lessons in the ten commandments are such a threat to seperation of church and state that both they and prayer are barred from schools, and then question where was God when the shooting started. When lessons of morality are left untaught, so will they be left unlearned. It is a shame that words such as "thou shall not kill" are banned from teaching, and yet we see what happens in ever more frequent occurrences when we turn away from God's word.
Then we have the media in all of this. I am not a fan of left or right leaning media, so I have very few options to watch. The media interviewing children who made it out alive from this shooting shows me that all they want is more viewership. Those children need to be home with their families or with grief counselors, not being asked about something they certainly cannot comprehend with such heightened anxieties. I lost faith in the media through the years when I realized that those in control of it have a tendency to take immorality and repackage it to suit their own particular tastes.
So what is being reported? The shooter was armed with two pricey 9mm pistols and an assault rifle with a 30 round clip (thanking God again, he chose to leave that one in the car). Hints at a troubled young man with a form of autism also surfaced earlier this morning. Again, I ask a painful question? Why would parents spend out approximately $2,000 for a child to have these guns? I say "child" even though he was 20, because if he had a form of autism, his cognitive development lies in question. I would really like to know what type of games this child has been exposed to during his upbringing. I think in the days to come, you will see (if the media actually releases it), that this child didn't have to rehearse his actions in reality, because he had been doing it as a game for some time. Research previous incidents involving young males, you will realize the trend. I've also seen the term "genius" attached to the young man. A reminder that heighened intellectual capacity (in any form) does not guarantee a better human being.
I feel horrible for the families that will suffer not only now, but for generations at the hand of one person with evil intentions. I pray for them that God will allow His spirit to comfort them. I pray for the family of the triggerman. Surely, they must be given privacy and time to heal. I pray that as a nation, we will wake up to direction we are leading our children, and make a turn for the better. I pray that people will take the guns out of children's hands (both toy guns and real ones), and instead put a Bible in them. Jesus taught right from wrong, and love for one another. I will not blame God, but I will praise Him in all things. I certainly praise Him that the triggerman left his most dangerous weapon in the car. I will pray to Him to work His often unseen miracles of healing with the families involved. I will pray that my own anger be quelled because I know, He is my only hope to wake up tomorrow, and not find myself angry because of the dark side of human nature.