Holy in the Daily

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How to Respond to the Attack of James Holmes During The Dark Knight Rises

conjunctivitis photo on post at Holy in the Daily

I’m a little ticked. I think you should be too. And I think there should be a lot more prayer going up from people like you and me. Here’s my international rant for the week:

Last week twelve people were killed and 58 were wounded when James Holmes entered a theater during a showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colorado.

Shock

Fear

Anger

Trauma

All these emotions flood minds and hearts as America picks herself up and prepares to move on.

Of course we move on. That’s where healing happens—in the moving on after the initial shock passes. Right? Our attention turns to other things once our national grieving is over. Some of this is good. Some of it isn’t.

It’s the “how” of moving on that concerns me.

Have we become more compassionate because of this mass murder experience? Are we aware that outside our huge American borders there are smaller nations suffering horrific bombings and mass murders? Why do we choose to live in a bubble of self-focus?

I don’t know about you, but I get tired of watching the news only to see the newest diet fad featured or the latest gossip about a favorite celebrity.

Are you aware of the following recent events outside our 50 states?

April 27th: Four bombs exploded in the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk wounding 27 people, including nine children.

Recently: A Christian convert from Islam was beheaded on Egyptian national TV.

July 13th: Over 250 people were killed in a massacre in the village of Tremseh in Hama province of Syria.

July 18th: Seven Israeli tourists were killed and dozens more wounded on a bus just outside the airport in Burgas, Bulgaria, on the Black Sea coast.

July 23: A wave of bomb attacks killed over 100 people in Iraq.

July 24th: A bomb wounds 20 people in the Mexican resort town of Puerto Vallarta. The majority of the victims were in their 20s.

Guilty!

I was vaguely aware of the above international bombings until I looked them up on Google. Maybe I could use the excuse that I’ve been so busy this July that I haven’t been paying attention to the news. But that doesn’t cut it since I know about the “The Dark Knight Rises” attack in Colorado.

The evening news covered little, if any, of the above events. Unless you tune in to the international news on your cable TV, or closely follow international news on the Internet, you too missed these reports.

If you heard of them, how soon did you forget them?

I’m convinced that much of our spiritual legacy cannot be known until we walk Heaven’s shores. This is because our journey is in two worlds—the dirt of earth and the unseen realm of the spirit.

Prayer is the work of the spirit—by the Spirit, in our spirit, and through our vocal cords. But it touches the unseen things that influence the people who live and move on this planet of dirt.

That’s why we don’t forget. That’s why we pray. That’s where a spiritual legacy is built.

Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper (Jeremiah 29:7 NIV).

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
May those who love you be secure (Psalm 122:6 NIV).

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2 NIV).

What will your legacy of prayer look like?

What stories will you hear in eternity future of how your prayers made a difference?

Thanks for listening to me rant. I’d love to hear your perspective in the comment section below. Have a prayerful weekend, Susan

“Jesus likes it when we share.” -Adelaide, age 3: Pass this along to everybody and their brother. OK, maybe not everybody’s brother, but you know . . . all of your friends would be nice.

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This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. Lilly

    Good word. It is almost like we expect other places in the world to have trouble, but we are shocked when it happens here. We need to feel the same compassion for every community that is hurting whether they are front and center in the news or not. We must guard against ethnocentrism when as kingdom people we are to reach the world.

    1. Susan

      Thanks for your comment, Lilly. Your words confirm my thoughts–We have to grow up and take our place on the front lines in prayer regardless of where trouble manifests itself. If we don’t reach the world in prayer, how can we reach it with feet?

  2. Beth Piepenburg

    We don’t even have to look past our borders as we ignore that 50,000 Americans have been killed by illegals in a ten-year span since 9/11. Let’s see that averages to a little over 13 each day. (Are you one of those tea party bigots?)
    What about the murders in our inner-cities? (Ho-hum!)
    How many babies are murdered by the abortion industry. (Oh, please, spare me!)
    I was so surprised that so few made comments to what I or others posted about Aurora. Seemed many were more interested in sharing about their everyday lives, just like any other day.
    Do we just ignore these facts because truth is not important? Are we so frustrated that we choose to ignore it? As long as it doesn’t affect me, why should I care?

    1. Susan

      Thanks for your comments, Beth. To play devil’s advocate here, I think some didn’t respond to the Aurora situation on Facebook because they use Facebook for escape from the stress of living in our world. I can understand that, and I also avoid too much political talk or stress related stuff on Facebook.

      It doesn’t mean folks don’t care. It just means they find Facebook to be a safe place to retreat and find stress relief. Do I still talk about issues that concern me on Facebook? Yes! But not all the time. I did find a large group discussing Aurora on Facebook and praying about it too. It was very encouraging to me to see that.

      That said, you know I agree with you that most of us choose to ignore what is going on in the world around us because we think things don’t affect us. Ignoring the horrors of the world won’t make them go away and they do affect us!

      1. Beth Piepenburg

        True. Somedays for me FB is a way to de-stress, other days it is more relational, and other times I am looking for something stimulating either intellectual or spiritual conversation. The variety of friends one has, the more one can diversify.

        I just noticed that there was less talk or interaction than in the past. Just wondering if people are becoming desensitized to what is happening in the world, unless it is closer to home. Or maybe some figure what can they do about it?

        1. Susan

          Hopelessness, desensitization, fear–ugg. All the more reason to pray, Beth.

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