Fighting fire with love

Someone once told me that unfortunate events happen in sets of threes. I believe that they happen in sequences, like a domino effect. If I believed in the powers of the universe, I might guess that this was an attempt by those universal powers to send us a message or draw the human race together. But I don't believe in the powers of the universe. I believe in God. I believe in His plans and the truth of His word coming to fruition. I believe that He does nothing without purpose. But I also know that there is evil in the world we live in, because humans have free will. I believe that people are all essentially good, but that evil desires sometimes overpower our good nature. And when that happens, tragic events begin to unfold and become our reality.

Mass shootings in a movie theater in Colorado. Armed gunmen running loose on a California college campus. The crazed killing of innocent men, women, and children in Newtown, Connecticut. And now, bombs exploding in Boston killing 3 people and injuring countless others. These are events that have transpired in less than a year. It breaks my heart and rips at my soul to recount these events, even from a distance. It's an unfathomable reality to have to wrap your mind around, and yet we have no choice. This is the reality of our world. This is what has happened to our brothers and sisters, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, children, and friends. I am beyond grateful that I have been fortunate enough to not have experienced any personal losses to these horrific episodes, but my heart is torn to shreds for those who have.

I'm sure I do not stand alone when I say that knowing that this world is inhabited by people who are capable of such evil is the kind of thing that keeps you up at night and keeps you constantly uneasy in the daylight, even if only subconsciously. It's times like these that make the world a scary place and the people in it nearly impossible to trust. We have seen these episodes play out in horrifying images and unimaginable truths. Some are yet to be sorted out. This is the case for the catastrophe in Boston Monday morning. Nevertheless, lives were taken and hearts were broken. Our hearts should all be broken.

With the devastating and gut-wrenching events of the past months, I think it's important that we take a moment to mourn the losses and earnestly feel the weight of each of these heartbreaking episodes. And, if I may be so bold, I think it's time for my generation to start seeing this world and what we have made of it with our eyes wide open. As far as I'm concerned, the time is way past due to start caring for the lives around us more than the life within us. It is time to start acting and moving within our world with compassion and sympathy rather than indifference and apathy.

I'm not saying we fight back. I'm not saying we stoop to their level even slightly. Fighting fire with fire won't solve anything. It will only leave the world in flames. I'm saying we throw out our complacency and get angry. We don't need to use bullets or bombs. We are not like them, the ones who can steal the lives of precious children and find joy in watching innocent people die. Therefore, we have no use for their kind of weapons. Instead, we must get angry and turn that anger into something that's actually useful: Love.

Like I said, I believe in God. He commands us first and foremost to love. Actively, wholly, purely, and sincerely. So that is what I will do. I don't intend to preach, but I do intend to have you stand with me. I intend to shed a light on the incredible power of genuine love in its purest and most complete form, the kind of love that can move the world.

We can't undo what has been done, but we can take steps to transform our world. No matter how small those steps might seem, they can do more good than we can comprehend. We can't save the world, but we can pour love into it. Hatred does us no good and harsh acts only fuel the fire that is already raging. We can stand together in love and give compassion to the unloveables. We can be an example of exactly what it is the world needs. It needs love and a lot of it. Right now. So much can be done by exchanging our weapons for sincere hearts.

So, start caring. Start giving your attention to what is important. Start feeling the gravity of the chaos our world has been thrown into. Start taking responsibility. And start now, because we are way overdue.

Colorado, we heal with you. California, we stand with you. Connecticut, we mourn with you. Boston, we pray for you. And to you all, we love you.

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8