Without being completely impractical, how about I list the definition of the words and see if that helps. "The freedom of humans to make choices that are not determined by prior causes or by divine intervention." Does that help bring the words to light? Try "Free Will".
On Friday afternoon, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said, "Evil visited this community". As great as those words seemed at the time, they only began to offer words of explanation. They should have been the prelude to much more.......
Today, I viewed a video piece from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Huckabee was talking about that ever present comment when tragedies like this occur "Where was God?" I agree with the former Governor on many occasion as he seems to put things into easy practical understanding. "We've escorted God out of our culture and off the public square", said the former Governor. "But as soon as the tragedy unfolded, God showed up".
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| Hugs and tears and God's presence..... |
I'd like to revisit a blog I wrote several years ago and re-post each September 11th. See if this doesn't help...
"You say you will never forget where you were when you heard the news on September 11,2001. Neither will I. I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room with a man who called his wife to say "Good-Bye". I held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the peace to say, "Honey, I am not going to make it but it is okay......I am ready to go.
I was with his wife when he called as she fed breakfast to their children. I held her up as she tried to understand his words and as she realized he wasn't coming home that night. I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a woman cried out to ME for help. "I have been knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!", I said. "Of course, I will show you the way home-only believe in ME now.
I was at the base of the building with the Priest ministering to the injured and devastated souls. I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven. He heard my voice and answered.
I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every prayer. I was in the very hearts of the believers there, comforting and assuring them that their faiths has saved them.
I want you to know that I saw every face. I was in Texas, Virginia, California and Afghanistan. I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news. Did you sense me?
I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew every name-though not all knew Me. Some met ME for the first time on the 86th floor. Some sought ME with their last breath. Some couldn't hear ME calling to them through smoke and flames" "Come to ME....this way......take my hand", I offered. Some chose, for the final time, to ignore ME. But, I was there.
I did not place you in the Tower that day. You may not know why, but I do. However, if you were there in the explosive moment in time, would you have reached for ME?
September 11, 2001 was not the end of the journey for you. But someday your journey will end. And I will be there for you as well. Seek ME now while I may be found. Then, at any moment, you know you are "ready to go".
I will be in the stairwell of your final moments....
GOD
So, when I listened to Huckabee's comments for the first time, my reaction was to respectfully disagree. "God was there", I thought. He didn't just show up when the tragedy took place. He's always there. Ever present.
I listened again to the former Governor's comments...and again, until I finally made the distinction. In fact, his commentary was much like the 9-11 piece. The good deeds that followed the horrific shootings proved once again, God's presence. We just don't realize it at the time.
Case in point.....
"Gene Rosen had just finished feeding his cats and was heading from his home near Sandy Hook Elementary School to a diner Friday morning when he saw six small children sitting in a neat semicircle at the end of his driveway. A school bus driver was standing over them telling them things would be all right. It was about 9;30 a.m. and the children, he discovered, had just run from the school to escape a gunman.
"We can't go back to school" one little boy told Rosen. "Our teacher is dead. Mrs. Soto; we don't have a teacher".
For the next several hours, Rosen connected with each childs family through the help of the school bus driver's phone log. Rosen grabbed stuffed animals from an upstairs bedroom.....something he had shared with his grandchildren over the years. He gave the six fruit juice and listened to their stories until their frantic parents arrived. Rosen claimed his training on Friday was from his years as a grandparent.
"It wasn't clear how the children escaped harm, but there have been reports that Victoria Soto, 27, the first-grade teacher killed hid some of her students from the approaching gunman".
Where was God on Friday? Right there. Using people like Gene Rosen....and other teachers at Sandy Hook, First Responders and so on and so on. And that despite the Free Will we exhibit.
YGG,
John
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