The Controversy

    Our nation is grieving yet another mass shooting. This time the outrage is a bit different because so many children were killed. This is how it should be. There are two issues I want to address.
    I have many friends  and probably family members who will disagree with what I am going to write: it is time to do something drastic to keep "weapons of mass destruction" off the streets. For goodness sake, we went to WAR in a foreign land over this issue, costing thousands of lives of our best young men and women, but we do very little in our own country to protect the youngest, most vulnerable of our citizens.
    Some of my friends will say, "But we have the right to protect ourselves." I would not argue with that. But NOBODY has yet brought their gun to school, to the theater, to the mall, and stood up to protect the innocent people who were gunned down. It just doesn't happen that way. Do you carry your gun when you take your children to school or pick them up? When you visit your child's school, do you stick your gun in your purse just in case?
   Some of my friends will say, "We just need to keep the guns out of the hands of mentally ill people." A good sentiment, I'm sure, but impossible to carry out. When is mental illness always noticeable? When does a person snap? And available weapons bring quick and terrible destruction.
   The second issue: When our homes and video arcades are filled with violent video games that children, teens, and adults play for hours on end, practicing shooting others, albeit cartoon-type figures, desensitizing themselves to blood and gore, violence, and loss of life...we WILL have a problem. The military train snipers with the very same video games.
   We must become outraged at death once again, and do all we can to protect the lives of people in our care - as families and as a  nation. It's time to fight for peace in our land.
   

OH MY GOODNESS

     My friend, mentor, counseling supervisor, Rose Marie Wrung, loaned me some teaching tapes on counseling from Elijah House in Post Falls, Idaho. I listen to them as I drive to work, because my older car has a tape player.
     Last week I learned about something called the "sin of self-protection." It was more than an AHA moment for me. It has been in my thoughts ever since.
     I grew up on self-protection: "Be careful." "That's too dangerous." "You might not have enough --- money, food, whatever."
     Oh, in my house we talked about trusting God, read the Bible, went to church --- and went home to worry, fear, and protect ourselves.
     This morning I sat down with my journal and got busy. I know these things:
1. If I believe something is "just the way I am" or something I got from a parent and I can't help it, that thing stays with me as long as I name it that way.
2. If I believe something is a sin --- which in New Testament means "missing the mark," getting close, but never hitting the bulls eye --- I KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THAT!
     I John 1:9 promises: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
     So today I tried it...I wrote as much as I could about how I self-protect. Those are my SYMPTOMS. And then I wrote: "I repent" --- turn around, don't want to go that way anymore.
     I can't describe what happened next, but if you want to talk about it, email me or call me.

OUR ANGRY WORLD

    Do you ever feel thankful and regretful at the same time? I am so thankful I have found some relief from the absolute anguish of anger that I've had since I was a small child. My regret comes because of the many years I didn't know I needed help, nor how to get it.
    A wise man in the Bible described the agony of drought and pestilence (locusts) experienced by people. But the hope he gave was this: God will restore what the locusts have eaten. That's been a quizzical thought for me at times.
    My wish has always been that He would STOP the locusts - not let bad stuff happen in the first place. But God made all of us with free will. People who were perhaps the source of our pain were flawed folks, not really knowing what they were doing nor why.
    But God never wastes our experiences. He will use every one of them to fulfill His plans in our lives and in the lives of others we meet.
    In the last couple weeks I've had so many discussions with angry people. They have every right to be angry. Others have torn from them the very dignity of their lives...by abuse, violence, abandonment, and more. Everywhere I go I meet people who are struggling with anger in one way or another. It is our national dis-ease.
    Just like me, most of them had no idea how angry they were...until...it erupted and came out against someone they loved, someone they worked with, or the guy driving in front of them. And just like me, most don't know how to deal with it and what to do.
    I have been helped by books, counselors, conferences, and even craziness to  understand my stuff and find some healing. I'm not done yet, but I am thankful. I hope and pray each of us can find freedom during this Christmas season --- exactly what Jesus came to bring.