Tom in Iraq as a Military Observer

Tom in Iraq as a Military Observer
They sent me here just to watch...

Friday, October 2, 2015

Another shooting...


Another shooting.  More lives lost.  Senseless violence.  

Senseless.

Now come the calls to take away guns and add new laws.  The cries for Black Lives Matter will be accompanied by Student Lives Matter to join the chorus of Cops Lives Matter and All Lives Matter.

But we miss the point once again with our cries and causes.  Fewer guns and more laws is not the solution.  These are Band-Aids that we place on gushing wounds.  All life matters, but human life is sacred.

We are of the earth and of God.  We sit atop of the creation; yet we do not understand that we ourselves are a sacred creation.  God made us in his own likeness.

All human life is sacred.  It is set apart with special purpose and yet we value it so lightly.  Slogans and tag lines such as Black Lives Matter or Cops Lives Matter let us rally support for our causes while ignoring the heart of the matter.

Human life is a precious thing. 

The child in the womb or walking the halls of a high school is precious.  Parents, encouraged by society must bring their children up in the way they should go—valuing life.

The 95 year old woman in a nursing home is holding on to a sacred thing—life.  From inception to death, we must regard this thing we call life as a precious gift from God.

The soldier or Marine that gives his life to save his buddies knows what he is giving up.  He knows the value of his ultimate sacrifice; yet does it any way.

The surgeon who fights off anger towards the shooter and anguish for the family in order to focus on removing bullet fragments from the victim of a drive by shooting understands the sacred task entrusted to him.

Why do so few have eyes to see life as a gift from God?

The answers to shootings and violence in America will not come from protests and new laws.  The answers lie in recognizing the gift that life truly is and then teaching our children to value it.

The answers to violence in America will not come from legislatures and executives but from homes where God is once again first and the gift of life that he gave us is valued as the precious thing that it is.

It will come from homes where fathers are the spiritual leader.  It will come from homes where godly values take precedence over top television shows or the most graphic video games.

Answers reside in families that seek God, his kingdom, his righteousness, and pray for his continued grace.

If you are looking to your favorite lobby or congressman or the president for answers, you will be disappointed.   They will fall short.  Their options do not include the condition of the human heart.  

Senseless violence stops when we value life enough to cherish it and pass on these values to our children.

Life—from inception to very old age—must be regarded as a precious gift from God.


To stop the violence we must value the gift of life once again and stop letting the world teach our children other values.

Let's commit to bringing up our children and grandchildren in the way they should go.

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