Interesting post by Byron Smucker. I read his blog on occasion.
One day I’m walking on campus after a class and I happen upon a crowd of people surrounding a man with a red shirt, upon which is printed something like “No homos will go to heaven.”
Not too long after that I was walking on campus and I came upon two elderly men from The Gideon’s International handing out New Testaments, quietly and with dignity.
This topic happened to be on my mind because it tends to be a hot topic of discussion at work. This one middle aged guy goes as far as to say, they (homosexuals) are so twisted that God should kill them all. Somewhere there is a balance. I think the gentlemen handing out Bibles had a better solution. IMHO you can’t help people if you are beating them over the head with “go God’s way or you’ll fry”. There’s a balance, though finding it is a challenge.
From MSNBC comes this excellent video talking about the power of forgiveness and the Amish.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/p_D_Z9bskqM]
I was deeply saddened along with everyone else who has heard of the recent rash of school shootings, especially the one where no one would have dreamed of such an event taking place—a rural, one-room, Amish schoolhouse. (Google news results available HERE. Wikipedia article available HERE.)
As the world hears the news story developing, the questions are sure to fly. What was the motivation? Why would someone without a criminal record, a husband, a father, one who had suffered the loss of a child personally, bring himself to commit such a crime? What happened 20 yrs ago that this man was not able to be healed of emotionally, mentally, and spiritually? A grudge? Something perpetrated against him which he was not able to deal with and find resolution? He would have been 12 years old, barely an adolescent. Why did he choose an Amish school to vent his 20 yrs of unresolved hurt? Only God knows the answers, though the next few months will be filled with seeking out a reason, some logical conclusion for the criminologists and investigation teams to explain WHY.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the deceased, Naomi Rose Ebersole (7), Marian Fisher (13), Lina Miller (7), Mary Liz Miller (8), and Anna Mae Stoltzfus, (12), as well as the families of the others who were wounded during the ordeal.
