1878- THE DARK KNIGHT OF THE SOUL

Well today is surely a day of mourning.

As you all know- yesterday marked another tragic day for our nation.

We had another deadly rampage in Colorado [Aurora]. 

Right down the road from Columbine.

James Holmes- a 24 year old student- walked into a theatre- carrying multiple guns- and shot randomly at the audience.

Last I heard- 71 shot- 12 dead.

It was at the premiere of Dark Knight Rising- the new Batman movie.

We don’t yet know the motivation for the killings- maybe we never will.

But of course- that won’t stop the media from making fools of themselves.

Brian Ross- ABC’s ‘chief investigative reporter’ had breaking news on their morning show.

He actually had the audacity to report that he found a man with the same name- James Holmes- who had a web site affiliated with the Tea Party.

Huh?

Gee- I’m sure there are no other people with such an odd name that live in Aurora Colorado.

I’m sure if this were a Muslim name- I’m sure you would have reported a random find- that you found another Muslim name- sounds the same- and he’s affiliated with Al Qaeda.

The sad thing is- after a little while- Ross had to apologize- the man he ‘outed’ was not the shooter.

The shooter was a 24 year old- the Holmes from the Ross report is 54.

The 54 year old had to disconnect his phone- his family immediately became a target for revenge.

What a bang up job you did Brian- may God have mercy on your soul- and please- please go away.

It’s sad- right up the road from where I live- we had the Fort Hood shootings.

Major Nidal Hassan walked into a crowded room on the base and fired on his fellow military men and women.

Killed many- shouted ‘Allah Akbar’- and opened fire.

During the investigation we learned that Hassan carried a card that identified himself as a soldier for Islam.

He dressed in garb that indicated he was Muslim.

He made many statements thru out his career that said he was a radical.

He had on line contacts with nut sites that advocate radical Islamic terrorism.

Yet- for all this- the administration refereed to this killing as ‘work place violence’.

Yet- ABC news thought it fine to simply share- with the world- that someone with the name Jim Holmes was connected to the Tea Party.

We had another ‘attack’ just up the road from me a few years back.

The nut who flew his plane into the IRS building in Austin.

The NY Times reported- on their on line forum- ‘Tea Party unhinged’.

It was later found out that the pilot was actually a communist sympathizer- not a Tea partier at all.

Gifford’s- when the congresswoman from Arizona was shot- the media spent a week trying to connect the dots- that somehow the political use of ‘targeting a district’ used by Sarah Palin- was responsible for the tragedy.

And of course- who can forget the nemesis of the large size cola.

Yes- a few years back Bloomberg [mayor of NY] referred to the Times Square bomber as ‘probably someone who is mad at Obama Care’.

We later found out- yes- once again- that the guy was a radical Islamist.

It’s sad how slow the media are to report the associations of radical Islam- when it’s obvious for everyone to see.

Yet- they go hunting- and even report innocent names- when they think there might be a connection with a right wing group.

How did Ross do his research?

You think he just stumbled upon a name that was the same?

You think he might just have googled ‘Tea Party- Jim Holmes’.

No- I’m sure the chief investigative reporter would never stoop so low.

I’m sure.

This last week I’ve been reading Isaiah- chapters 49 thru the end.

There are so many key verses in these chapters- ones that I have memorized and quoted over the years during prayer.

In chapter 53 we read that God saw the ‘Travail of his soul and was satisfied’.

‘Because he poured out his soul unto death’.

‘He was numbered with the transgressors’.

The chapter speaks about the suffering Messiah.

Our Jewish friends apply this to their struggles as a nation.

I think both are applicable.

There is a term we use in Christianity- it’s called ‘The dark night of the soul’.

Saint John of the Cross [a famous Christian from church history] made the term popular.

Mother Theresa- we found out later- lived many of her years in this state of ‘darkness’.

It simply speaks about the trials we all go thru- times when we think all hope is lost.

Some people experience it more than others- the above chapter says this travail- this numbness- is redemptive in nature.

God uses it- and the people- nations- that go thru it for a purpose.

It was because Christ suffered- poured out his soul ‘unto death’ that he became the savior for mankind.

It was because of the struggles of the Jewish people that they have now become one of the most prosperous nations in that part of the world.

I’m not saying God ordains that a mad man shoot innocent people in a movie.

But I am saying that we as a nation can become a better people thru it all.

Yesterday Obama and Romney both suspended their campaigns for a day.

 And I even heard MSNBC give credit to both men for it.

Yeah- we saw civility- by both camps- for the first time in a while.

Today we pray for the victims of Aurora.

We try and resist the stupidity of associating this mad kid’s act with any group- at least until we get more facts.

And we- as a nation- have an opportunity- we have a ‘dark night’ opportunity- we can either become worse- hate more- blame the other side for it.

Or we can reflect- we can turn our minds to the things that count.

In the end- we can find redemption in the collective ‘travail of our souls’.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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