Saturday, July 21, 2012

Horrific events...

Thursday night in Aurora, CO, a man went into a movie theater and started shooting people.  There is no reason at this time for why the man did this.  There is no reason why 71 people were injured and 12 died.  It happened.  It is difficult to wrap one's mind around why it happened, but the fact remains - it did.

During dinner, my friend sort of compared it to 911.  The "eerie-ness" of the event.  I had briefly thought about that on my way to pick up this friend, but not really spent a lot of time on the matter.  The whole thing makes me a little wary to go to the theater again.

I won't deny that the incident was senseless or shocking - it is.  However, I wonder how many of these individuals are out there lurking.

Earlier in the week, same friend mentioned that a woman we know who had fought breast cancer received some pretty tragic news.  The cancer has spread to her brain.  I felt so much sadness because this woman seemed like such a kind, caring person.  My friend who has fought through breast cancer as well found out she has emphysema.  She had just wrapped up radiation therapy and dealt with chemo.  To make matters worse, she does not have much medical insurance and her situation is becoming dire.

As I drove home that day, I turned on the radio and it was playing Bruce Hornsby's "The Way It Is".  It gave me an image of sitting on a pier by a lake, having a talk with God and asking "Why all of this pain and suffering?" His answer:  That's just the way it is.  While I realize the message in that song is not to accept things just because that is the way it is, for some of life's tragedies, it is the only answer.

There are no real answers for all of this.  We have to cope with what life gives to us and figure out how to handle it or handle it better.  I suppose coping and such is part of God's plan or lessons we learn from life.  We do not have to like it, but they are there. 

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