Seek and Go Hide

It used to the other way around. We’d hide first, and then our playmates would come seek us out. Now the sequence is reversed: one of their peers comes to school with military–style, rapid firepower seeking to shoot as many students as humanly possible in a given amount of time (before the police arrive). Students have nowhere to (safely) hide, so they’d been trained to instantly dive for cover behind, quickly, up–ended school desks used as shields. This is no game and certainly not a dress rehearsal. This is life as an American student on whatever level of learning your child is attending. (It’s my belief that all students’ desks should covered with bullet–proof metal and face the doorway to the classroom with one-way see through glass on all doors, and/or hallway windows.

No one in their right mind ever thought just attending school was going to place your kid’s life in jeopardy. Teachers never thought to ask for additional hazard pay either. The students and/or teachers are usually being killed and/or injured by a disgruntled peer student seeking to get his (almost always male) revenge against individual(s) he thinks have done him wrong. But sometimes it’s just an act of “random revenge.” Or just to obtain his “entitled” 15 minutes of fame (really, infamy). Or he might just be mentally unstable. Or negatively influenced by terrorists propaganda. The list goes on and on–without end!

In the painting we see youths riding on “white horses”–all is well–right? Think again. The age of innocence for kids attending our institutions of learning (including the primary grades) has been long gone before the 20th Century took exit. All the riders’ horses on this carousel are connected to it by AR–15s (the weapon of choice for mass shooters). But make no mistake: semi and automatic hand guns come in as a close second. These AR–15s are subbing as working shafts–shafting their innocent riders of their life prematurely by one of their own in their mist (I’m thinking Judas here). By the time someone at school realizes that something isn’t right, the wayward student is already in the school house, and he’s using it as his own personal shooting gallery. A student’s up–ended desk seems flimsy protection verses semi–automatic weapons. The top rotating left half portion of the carousel depicts students moving out of harm’s way under police protection; prayers images are to the right of center. All of these top rectangles are surrounded by the flashing red and blue lights of the responding police and emergency vehicles.

Everyone’s a target for people who carry a chip on their shoulders–be it knowingly or not–for whatever valid reason or not. You don’t always realize what has the power to ruffle another’s feathers. Be very careful how you treat your fellow man. If it’s not how you would like to be treated, don’t be surprised when adversity comes to knock at your door. What goes around…

Our collective humanity is located on the common ground of Earth. Not only do we have to share and care for the environment with other nations, but we likewise share our ancestry through the common thread of Abraham. The responsibility to carry on in a positive manner what God Almighty has previously set in motion will be duly acknowledged–in time, by all of humanity.

It’s quite ironic to me (and others) that even through we outlawed prayer in our school long ago, it’s the first thing our school youths resort to in a crisis situation….hum. (Maybe, if we were to reinstate prayer (in our schools) before calamity strikes again, we wouldn’t experience as much trauma).

In Old Testament times God chose the Jews to be the examples to the other nations on how people should live on this planet. They failed miserably, time and time again to measure-up to His ideals for them. Now, all mankind is eligible for His inclusion into eternal life. He’s already signed your check to a heavenly eternity by His dead body being resurrected. Will you write your name in the blank where it says pay to the order of by being baptized?

If they can kill our presidents, with all their added protections, they can certainly kill any school child they choose with almost none. Yes, we can place some safeguards in place, (number one being no sale of AR-15s or the like to the general public), but nothing is even remotely close to solving the problem of hate–short of loving and recognizing the unloved, the bullied, the left behind in our society that still gets thrown under the bus–especially when politicians talk about money that isn’t available for necessary programs to identify and fix problems before they occur. Where are our priorities?

My belief: a good dose of Jesus Christ. He won’t infringe on your freewill or others (miraculously or otherwise), but He’ll work the sidelines on your behalf providentially. Especially so, if you commit to Him in the watery grave of baptism! (This is not to insinuate that I believe that God isn’t capable of miracles anymore. There’s been many documented cases where even terminal cancer patients (for instance) have been “miraculous” cured through the power of prayer when modern medicine practices fell by the wayside in their attempts to heal).