Making Sense Out of Nonsense

It’s happened again. In a random act of violence someone murders twelve people and wounds dozens more. What is the reason for the violence. No one seems to know. Families are burying their dead without the closure of a reason. Their innocent loved ones were taken by the nonsense in a deranged shooter’s mind.

Speculation is running rampant. You can’t watch cable news without hour long segments about the tragedy. Although some of it centers on the victims, much is about the perpetrator. I wonder if the enraged news anchors are as interested in the incident as they are in their ratings.

Sometimes it seems that every interest group in the country is trying to take advantage of a very sad event. Politicians are using it to further their causes. Those that promote and oppose gun ownership are using it to prove their arguments. In all of this the victims both killed and hurt are forgotten or at most used to benefit a cause.

One of the sad aspects of all this is that many more innocents are murdered on any given day in our country than were killed in the Colorado theater shooting. Even in our small rural community it is not uncommon for us to hear the news of senseless killings almost on a daily basis. I have not heard the outrage from public or media when they die each day.

There is a solution for the problem. That solution is Jesus. Jesus told us to love one another, both friend and enemy. If we treat others as we would have them treat us there would be much less violence. It would actually stop. As we have gotten away from God our society has reflected that change. We can cast blame in many directions. The truth is that we are getting what we have permitted. The solution is to move back in God’s direction.