I must admit I am angry about the events of December 14, 2012. It is good to be angry at times. Jesus, like us in every way but sin, got angry. He threw the money changers out of the Temple, and I can just imagine His face when Peter cut off the ear of the guard. Jesus healed that ear. He must have had some righteous anger in him to heal. Righteous anger is good. It can lead to action that can actually heal a situation or prevent one. Jesus was one who made a difference in a positive way.
Others leave legacies that are full of bad fruit. One night in a religious education class, I was asked if I knew who Amanda Todd was. Although I did not know her name, I knew the circumstance surrounding her death. She committed suicide online after a series of events in her young life. Her choice to commit suicide left bad fruit for her family regardless of the circumstances which led to her choice. Her example for other young people is atrocious. We need to counteract that example.
Life is about choices. We can make a difference for good or we can make a difference for evil. Evil gets a stronghold when good people do nothing.
When will we ever learn, when will we ever learn?
I choose to make a difference following the example of Jesus. He healed, fed, loved in truth, and laid down his life for friends. They are saying there were real heroes in the Connecticut school on December 14, 2012. I hope the children who survived the massacre will look to the good of those heroes, and not succumb to the despair that the shooter exemplified.
Jesus always gave hope. It was when he was not believed that people got into trouble. The Bible makes no excuses for Judas. The servants are not greater than the Master so we will always have Judas' in life. The key is to keep Jesus in mind when that happens.
What would Jesus do? We know He made a difference. We are still celebrating His birth over 2000 years after it. Even the secular world benefits by His name. Otherwise, December 25 would be just any other ordinary day to us.
Marian R. Carlino
December 18, 2012
