Where I draw the line

Hello everyone--

Sorry it has been just over two weeks since my last post, but frankly, I A) have been fairly busy and B) don't have a burning topic in mind when it comes to this whole autism spectrum thing.

But today, oh today was not a good one in the world at large.  I came out of the midnight showing of Dark Knight Rising with my father this morning only to hear about the events in Denver, the tragic, awful shooting that cost the lives of 12 and injured 59, I believe it is, at last count.  I'm just devastated.  All those people lost or injured or permanently scarred by the trauma they witnessed and experienced.  Young people mostly, still in love with their heroes, on dates or hanging with friends, having fun, or older people wanting to feel young again.  Killed by a young man with no particular religious or political reason for doing so (that has come out so far at least), just a pure evil psycho who decided to kill a bunch of people. This is indeed a tragedy.

And today the husband of a friend of mine underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor.  Praise God the surgery went well, they were able to remove 70-90% of it and they say it is between a stage 2-3 sized tumor, which means not lethal yet.  More will be known when the pathology report comes in.  In the meantime,  I am so many of her other friends will be doing what he have been doing since we heard about this last week--praying, praying, praying.

I've had many brutal conversations on FB recently, sparked by the OD death of Sylvester Stallone's son, that I lack compassion, that I am un-Christian, that I don't know what it is like because I haven't been there, because I spoke out quite vehemently about my total and utter lack of sympathy for drug abusers and other people who CHOOSE and ALLOW their addictions to overtake their lives and wreak havoc on those around them.  How their deaths are not tragic, but a result of their choices.  How we need to feel compassion for the victims, not the victimizers.  I have to tell you, I should have let it go, but that dogged Aspie brain won't let me, and it has left me very unsettled.

Now I do believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is strong enough, forgiving enough, and loving enough to forgive even the worst of us--if I didn't believe that, then I wouldn't have my faith--BUT at the end of the day we have to choose to repent and accept that love and forgiveness, and sadly, I have come to the conclusion that many won't.  I pray that they will choose repentance at the moment of judgment, and I can't know what will happen.  But  we have to accept that these truly evil people are going to remain truly evil.  And there ARE truly evil people in this world.  It does no good to pretend that if we just treated people nicer everyone would be nice back and we'd all live in a happy utopia.  The Aurora shooting is only one example that that idea doesn't, and never has, worked, because evil is EVIL.

So, I think of this argument I have been having, and I think of it in light of the shooting in Aurora.  Of brain tumors, of the many fighting diabetes and cancer and grave illnesses. I think of shooting victims and rape victims and people torn apart by violence.

And here I draw the line and make my stand.  I do not care, at all, what circumstances caused you to follow a path of destruction.  I have compassion if you came from a hard background but in no way does that give you any justification or excuse to follow destructive and/or violent and evil behavior.  If you do this, I will pray for your soul, but I don't have any sympathy for you.  Not a drop.  Now if you work to escape, to get clean, to stop acting in violence, then you have my utmost respect and support.  But not if you are one of the many who simply do it because they want to and don't care about anyone else.

And to the victims of both fate and the hands of other people, for you my well of compassion and my prayers well endlessly.  Know we have a God that will be there, even at the darkest of times.  And if you don't believe me, just ask him.  He'll tell you Himself.

God bless you all,

EA