The Journey 349
John 14
There are certain times in life when we get angry, extremely upset, when our emotions seems take over logic and reasoning. Angry at certain turn of events that defies logic and human reasoning. Yesterday was one such days in the life of this nation, when people cutting across age, sex, and religion spoke in angry and anguish tones at the senseless killing of elementary school children at the Sandy Hook Elementary school, Newton, Connecticut. The horrific shooting where a young boy who is only 20 years of age shoots his mother at their home and then drives to the elementary school where his mother taught, and shoots randomly killing 28 people of which 20 are children between age 5– 10. How do we respond and react to such horrific events that has aroused the conscience of a whole nation. President Barack Obama in one of his most emotional address to the nation stated that “our hearts are broken and that this nation has endured too many of these tragedies in the past”. I have never seen the President so emotional. I think he represents all the parents who are grieving at the loss of their child and also those parents who are in a state of shock thinking as to what is becoming of this great nation. The mass shooting that occurred in the elementary school has also claimed the lives of the school principal who only recently brought in a new security policy in the school. Every one who has heard the news from yesterday are trying to cope up with the ghastly murder of innocent children. Why should someone who is in his early youth stage become so sadist so as to kill innocent children? There are so many questions that are being raised. Even as I write these devotions, anger and anguish wells within me, in realizing that I live in a world where every day the forces of evil is besieging this world that I live and trying to exterminate life and goodness in this world. Forces of evil that is waging a war against God as He works with us to bring peace and good will to human life and to the whole earth. The same forces of evil that was prevalent and which raised its deadly pangs when Jesus was born in the little town of Bethlehem, the forces of evil that came in the form of Herod, who had no remorse nor guilt in killing infants at that time. Tears, agony and anger well up in the life of mothers, both at Ramah in history and today at Connecticut. I live far away from Connecticut and my only connection with Connecticut is my friends, a young couple Shawn and Sneha and their family, but yet I feel pain and anguish and I feel connected to those grieving families . Yesterday as I went for caroling, I strangely felt that I could not wholeheartedly involve myself in the carol singing, as I felt a whole lot of emotions and feeling welling up inside me. The feeling of remorse, the feeling of helplessness and more than that the question that I seem to be asking my Lord “Why O God, Why are these things happening”. What is more tragic about this whole incident of shooting is that we are in the advent season, and there is cheer, fellowship, socializing and singing all around and suddenly the sound of carols is broken down by the sound of gun. How do we move forward and how do we make sense of our life and living in midst of those parents who have lost their young ones. What is our role in this world to see that such incidents do not occur again and how can we all contribute to well being of others and making this world a safe place for every one to live harmoniously?.
As we meditate on the theme “Transformed Living” and in the context of pain and anguish all around, I am trying to find meaning to my life and living through my faith in the Lord. One of the truths that we find in the Word of God, which expresses the truth of the advent season is the message that the angel told Joseph. In Mathew 1: 23, the angel says that the virgin shall give birth to a son and he shall be called “Immanuel "which means God with us. It is this message that gives us hope in the midst of pain. Hope that comes with the affirmation and thought that in Jesus Christ, I find and experience a Lord who is there with me in my pain, in my suffering. A Lord who is there to walk with me in all my experiences of life. A God who is there to give me a patient hearing as I counter Him with questions for which I need answer, a God who will not let me go. [Psalms 139]. Hence at this time let us tightly hold on to God and look up to the Lord [ Psalms 121] to receiver comfort and strength through the grace and peace that He can only give. It is this presence and peace of our Lord that should strengthen all of us. [John 14:27]. Once we are strengthened by the peace and grace of our Lord, I think we have a mission in this world. A collective mission not only to be a channels of hope to the grieving parents in Connecticut and others who are grieving losses but also working together with our Lord so that a culture of peace and harmony is established in our world. The shock of Connecticut will be remembered only till the next disaster strikes. We never learn any lessons from the tragedies that has struck us. Whether it was shooting at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin, or the shooting at the theater in Aurora or the recent shooing at the shopping mall. For majority of us, just as we say in Mumbai, life has to go on….who cares..This is not the first time that a shooting has occurred. It is this apathy that we need to conquer. We also need to examine, as to what made a 20 year old boy to kill his mother and then go on a killing spree?. Though people are clamoring for tighter laws in gun control, we need to go beyond these laws to examine what are the factors in the family environment, the social environment that causes an individual to behave in such a sadistic manner. Haven't we taken our family relationship and our relationship with our with our Lord for granted. In this season of advent as we are busy with shopping and filling our homes and closets with lot of material things, let us also fill our home and our family with love and respect for each other and the fear of the Lord. It is only then we can say that we are taking lasting steps to conquer gun violence, and incidents associated with the culture of violence and make our family, our home, our city and our country a better place to live.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla
There are certain times in life when we get angry, extremely upset, when our emotions seems take over logic and reasoning. Angry at certain turn of events that defies logic and human reasoning. Yesterday was one such days in the life of this nation, when people cutting across age, sex, and religion spoke in angry and anguish tones at the senseless killing of elementary school children at the Sandy Hook Elementary school, Newton, Connecticut. The horrific shooting where a young boy who is only 20 years of age shoots his mother at their home and then drives to the elementary school where his mother taught, and shoots randomly killing 28 people of which 20 are children between age 5– 10. How do we respond and react to such horrific events that has aroused the conscience of a whole nation. President Barack Obama in one of his most emotional address to the nation stated that “our hearts are broken and that this nation has endured too many of these tragedies in the past”. I have never seen the President so emotional. I think he represents all the parents who are grieving at the loss of their child and also those parents who are in a state of shock thinking as to what is becoming of this great nation. The mass shooting that occurred in the elementary school has also claimed the lives of the school principal who only recently brought in a new security policy in the school. Every one who has heard the news from yesterday are trying to cope up with the ghastly murder of innocent children. Why should someone who is in his early youth stage become so sadist so as to kill innocent children? There are so many questions that are being raised. Even as I write these devotions, anger and anguish wells within me, in realizing that I live in a world where every day the forces of evil is besieging this world that I live and trying to exterminate life and goodness in this world. Forces of evil that is waging a war against God as He works with us to bring peace and good will to human life and to the whole earth. The same forces of evil that was prevalent and which raised its deadly pangs when Jesus was born in the little town of Bethlehem, the forces of evil that came in the form of Herod, who had no remorse nor guilt in killing infants at that time. Tears, agony and anger well up in the life of mothers, both at Ramah in history and today at Connecticut. I live far away from Connecticut and my only connection with Connecticut is my friends, a young couple Shawn and Sneha and their family, but yet I feel pain and anguish and I feel connected to those grieving families . Yesterday as I went for caroling, I strangely felt that I could not wholeheartedly involve myself in the carol singing, as I felt a whole lot of emotions and feeling welling up inside me. The feeling of remorse, the feeling of helplessness and more than that the question that I seem to be asking my Lord “Why O God, Why are these things happening”. What is more tragic about this whole incident of shooting is that we are in the advent season, and there is cheer, fellowship, socializing and singing all around and suddenly the sound of carols is broken down by the sound of gun. How do we move forward and how do we make sense of our life and living in midst of those parents who have lost their young ones. What is our role in this world to see that such incidents do not occur again and how can we all contribute to well being of others and making this world a safe place for every one to live harmoniously?.
As we meditate on the theme “Transformed Living” and in the context of pain and anguish all around, I am trying to find meaning to my life and living through my faith in the Lord. One of the truths that we find in the Word of God, which expresses the truth of the advent season is the message that the angel told Joseph. In Mathew 1: 23, the angel says that the virgin shall give birth to a son and he shall be called “Immanuel "which means God with us. It is this message that gives us hope in the midst of pain. Hope that comes with the affirmation and thought that in Jesus Christ, I find and experience a Lord who is there with me in my pain, in my suffering. A Lord who is there to walk with me in all my experiences of life. A God who is there to give me a patient hearing as I counter Him with questions for which I need answer, a God who will not let me go. [Psalms 139]. Hence at this time let us tightly hold on to God and look up to the Lord [ Psalms 121] to receiver comfort and strength through the grace and peace that He can only give. It is this presence and peace of our Lord that should strengthen all of us. [John 14:27]. Once we are strengthened by the peace and grace of our Lord, I think we have a mission in this world. A collective mission not only to be a channels of hope to the grieving parents in Connecticut and others who are grieving losses but also working together with our Lord so that a culture of peace and harmony is established in our world. The shock of Connecticut will be remembered only till the next disaster strikes. We never learn any lessons from the tragedies that has struck us. Whether it was shooting at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin, or the shooting at the theater in Aurora or the recent shooing at the shopping mall. For majority of us, just as we say in Mumbai, life has to go on….who cares..This is not the first time that a shooting has occurred. It is this apathy that we need to conquer. We also need to examine, as to what made a 20 year old boy to kill his mother and then go on a killing spree?. Though people are clamoring for tighter laws in gun control, we need to go beyond these laws to examine what are the factors in the family environment, the social environment that causes an individual to behave in such a sadistic manner. Haven't we taken our family relationship and our relationship with our with our Lord for granted. In this season of advent as we are busy with shopping and filling our homes and closets with lot of material things, let us also fill our home and our family with love and respect for each other and the fear of the Lord. It is only then we can say that we are taking lasting steps to conquer gun violence, and incidents associated with the culture of violence and make our family, our home, our city and our country a better place to live.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla