When I was young, the smallest trick of light,
Could catch my eye,
Then life was new and every new day,
I thought that I could fly.
I believed in what I hoped for,
And I hoped for things unseen,
I had wings and dreams could soar,
I just don’t feel like flying anymore.
When the stars threw down their spears,
Watered Heaven with their tears,
Before words were spoken,
Before eternity.

Dear Father, I need you,
Your strength my heart to mend.
I want to fly higher,
Every new day again.

When I was small, the furthest I could reach,
Was not so high,
Then I thought the world was so much smaller,
Feeling that I could fly.
Through distant deeps and skies,
Behind infinity,
Below the face of Heaven,
He stoops to create me.

Dear Father, I need you,
Your strength my heart to mend.
I want to fly higher,
Every new day again.

Man versus himself.
Man versus machine.
Man versus the world.
Mankind versus me.
The struggles go on,
The wisdom I lack,
The burdens keep pilling
Up on my back.
So hard to breathe,
To take the next step.
The mountain is high,
I wait in the depths.
Yearning for grace,
And hoping for peace.
Dear God…
Increase.

Healing hands of God have mercy on our unclean souls once again.
Jesus Christ, light of the world burning bright within our hearts forever.

Freedom means love without condition,
without a beginning or an end.

Here’s my heart, let it be forever Your’s,
Only You can make every new day seem so new

Source: Spotify

He played on playgrounds. As I reflect on yesterday’s shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, I find myself thinking about the shooter. I realize this will probably be an unpopular post and it may even elicit some negative responses; however, I feel called to share a few of my thoughts… At this point, very little is known about the shooter or his motives. His name was Adam Lanza and he was 20 years old. Slate Magazine reports, “…he appears to have been a good student who was really interested in computers and was part of a technology club at Newtown High School.” Several other media outlets report that he had a mental disability or a development disorder. The New York Times elaborated on this, reporting that there is some evidence he might have had Asperger’s syndrome, a higher functioning form of autism. Beyond this, we know almost nothing. We don’t know what triggered his actions. We don’t know what caused him to open fire on a classroom full of children. We just don’t know. But I don’t think we want to know. I think we will avoid asking questions for fear of the answers. Of course, the police will do their investigative work and we will watch as they present us with his “motive,” but we will leave it at that. We will not ask the deeper questions. We will not ask why he was so broken; we will not ask why he felt so hopeless. Instead, we will turn him into a monster. The media does this. It has done this with every killer in recent memory. They will choose a picture of him that will make him appear as least human as possible. They will call him crazy and deranged. And, in many ways, they will be right. But by turning him into a monster — by dehumanizing him — they will create an environment where we do not have to ask ourselves the deeper questions and wrestle with the answers.  By removing his humanity, we can avoid our own. We can write him off as an “evil person” and not deal with the darkness in our own hearts and minds and souls. We can stereotype him as a “Hitler” or a “bin Laden” and, by doing so, we can pretend that we are void of the evil that propelled him to act in such a horrendous way. I recently read a book by N.T. Write entitled Evil and the Justice of God. In talking about the line separating good and evil, he states… “That fateful line runs down the middle of each of us, every human society, every individual. This is not to say that all humans, and all societies, are equally good or bad; far from it. Merely that we are all infected and that all easy attempts to see the problem in terms of “us” and “them” are fatally flawed.” In other words, good and evil are not categories that people can be placed in. No one is completely good or completely evil. We are all both. We are all capable of great things and terrible things. This is true of each and every one of us … and it was true of Adam Lanza. It’s tough to think that he was a person just like you and me. But he was. He was created by God. He was once a baby laughing in his mother’s arms. He played on playgrounds and had a favorite color. He faced the awkwardness of junior high and the struggles of high school. And, like me, he battled negative thoughts and feelings of despair. I am not writing this to justify his actions. What he did was undoubtedly monstrous. His actions are worthy of everyone’s condemnation. Instead, I am writing this to remind us that we are all in need of love and forgiveness. Over the coming days, we must look deep within ourselves and find the strength to forgive Adam Lenza. This does not mean forgetting the pain or avoiding the grief. (Mourning is a necessary part of the process of forgiveness.) It will not be easy by any means, but it is required of those of us who claim to follow Jesus. We must forgive … even when it hurts. And we must love. We must look around us for those who are broken and in need of hope … and we must bless them. We must look for ways to prevent this from happening again. The media will argue over how to best do that, but one thing is clear: True change will begin with us recognizing our humanity. Policies and programs can help, but if we refuse to ask the deeper questions and wrestle with the answers, we will not get anywhere. We must see people — even people like Adam Lanza — as part of God’s creation. Then and only then, can we forgive, love, and work to overcome the brokenness and hopelessness that led to the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. As always, I welcome your feedback. Feel free to leave a comment below. Image by Wayne Silver.
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He played on playgrounds.

As I reflect on yesterday’s shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, I find myself thinking about the shooter. I realize this will probably be an unpopular post and it may even elicit some negative responses; however, I feel called to share a few of my thoughts…

At this point, very little is known about the shooter or his motives. His name was Adam Lanza and he was 20 years old. Slate Magazine reports, “…he appears to have been a good student who was really interested in computers and was part of a technology club at Newtown High School.” Several other media outlets report that he had a mental disability or a development disorder. The New York Times elaborated on this, reporting that there is some evidence he might have had Asperger’s syndrome, a higher functioning form of autism. Beyond this, we know almost nothing.

We don’t know what triggered his actions. We don’t know what caused him to open fire on a classroom full of children. We just don’t know. But I don’t think we want to know.

I think we will avoid asking questions for fear of the answers. Of course, the police will do their investigative work and we will watch as they present us with his “motive,” but we will leave it at that. We will not ask the deeper questions. We will not ask why he was so broken; we will not ask why he felt so hopeless.

Instead, we will turn him into a monster. The media does this. It has done this with every killer in recent memory. They will choose a picture of him that will make him appear as least human as possible. They will call him crazy and deranged. And, in many ways, they will be right. But by turning him into a monster — by dehumanizing him — they will create an environment where we do not have to ask ourselves the deeper questions and wrestle with the answers. 

By removing his humanity, we can avoid our own. We can write him off as an “evil person” and not deal with the darkness in our own hearts and minds and souls. We can stereotype him as a “Hitler” or a “bin Laden” and, by doing so, we can pretend that we are void of the evil that propelled him to act in such a horrendous way.

I recently read a book by N.T. Write entitled Evil and the Justice of God. In talking about the line separating good and evil, he states…

“That fateful line runs down the middle of each of us, every human society, every individual. This is not to say that all humans, and all societies, are equally good or bad; far from it. Merely that we are all infected and that all easy attempts to see the problem in terms of “us” and “them” are fatally flawed.”

In other words, good and evil are not categories that people can be placed in. No one is completely good or completely evil. We are all both. We are all capable of great things and terrible things. This is true of each and every one of us … and it was true of Adam Lanza.

It’s tough to think that he was a person just like you and me. But he was. He was created by God. He was once a baby laughing in his mother’s arms. He played on playgrounds and had a favorite color. He faced the awkwardness of junior high and the struggles of high school. And, like me, he battled negative thoughts and feelings of despair.

I am not writing this to justify his actions. What he did was undoubtedly monstrous. His actions are worthy of everyone’s condemnation. Instead, I am writing this to remind us that we are all in need of love and forgiveness.

Over the coming days, we must look deep within ourselves and find the strength to forgive Adam Lenza. This does not mean forgetting the pain or avoiding the grief. (Mourning is a necessary part of the process of forgiveness.) It will not be easy by any means, but it is required of those of us who claim to follow Jesus. We must forgive … even when it hurts. And we must love. We must look around us for those who are broken and in need of hope … and we must bless them.

We must look for ways to prevent this from happening again. The media will argue over how to best do that, but one thing is clear: True change will begin with us recognizing our humanity. Policies and programs can help, but if we refuse to ask the deeper questions and wrestle with the answers, we will not get anywhere. We must see people — even people like Adam Lanza — as part of God’s creation. Then and only then, can we forgive, love, and work to overcome the brokenness and hopelessness that led to the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

As always, I welcome your feedback. Feel free to leave a comment below.


Image by Wayne Silver.