If Only James Holmes...........

I keep thinking that if only James Holmes, the mastermind of the evil and destructive rampage in Aurora, Colorado had:

Stayed close to Jesus

Continued to attend Church

Put his trust and hope in God alone

Lived in Christian hope and expectation of good

Listened and incorporated the Christian values he was taught by his family and at his Church

Sought help when evil thoughts started to obsess him

Prayed and sought help from the pastor of his family's Church

Reached out to family or counselors and asked for help...

No one will ever know why James Holmes didn't seek help as he drifted deeper and deeper into a psychotic world filled with evil obsessions. Awhile ago I read in a front page article in the New York Times that increasingly young people entering college are in need of psychological counseling and therapy. Counselors are overworked trying to keep up with the demand for their time. Our fast-paced, competitive, economically volatile, anxiety-ridden, overly materialistic society, is causing stress and anxiety for many. Some cope better than others.

I just keep thinking that this horrific story didn't have to happen. James Holmes was brought up as a Christian. He heard the gospel preached, he listened in Church to Christ's message. He heard in his Church (Penasquitos Lutheran Church), the words of Scripture, as spoken by Jesus who said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." If only he had truly listened and incorporated that message into his being and way of life. If only he had stayed on the Christian path and entered into a deep relationship with Jesus. But he rejected the Christian message of love, hope and compassion. He dismissed the Ten Commandments that could have saved him from self-destruction. He turned away from the very thing that could have helped him-the support of a Church community, the peace and righteousness of knowing Christ and doing His will. He turned from God, from the light and was tempted by evil and the darkness. He strayed into a dangerous and evil world and he destroyed innocent lives as well as his own. His poor parents, how sad for them. He has destroyed their lives as well.

Innocent people died senselessly and tragically. People suffer and lives will never be the same. A tragedy that never should have happened, if only James Holmes had stayed the course, read the Bible, lived the truths within it and stayed close to Christ.

For the people who lived through that living nightmare and for those who died, in the theater in Aurora, they experienced an apocalypse, of sorts. The doomsday scenario happened on a small scale. Something very evil and destructive did surface in 2012, it is strange indeed.

NJA

**Update-According to recent developments, James Holmes was being treated by a psychiatrist at the University where he studied. Apparently he was a patient of Dr. Lynne Fenton.

Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. (1 Thess. 5: 21-22)

The Devil's Outburst in Aurora, Colorado

Evil exists. Evil struck in a dark movie theater, late at night, after midnight in Aurora, Colorado. A deranged killer, dressed in black, "like an assassin ready to go to war," using the cloak of darkness, carried out the devil's work during a special late night showing of "The Dark Knight Rises." Chaos, destruction, confusion, violence perpetrated on the innocent, disregard for human life and dignity, the "Joker,"- the Devil had his hand in this atrocity. Signs of the evil ones intent are everywhere in the story and scarily in the face of the suspected killer.

Evil and violent thoughts can sometimes permeate the minds of psychotic, obsessed people. I believe the Devil preys on their weak and disturbed minds. Sometimes they act and follow through. We've seen this over and over again, violence and destruction of the innocent. My heart is deeply saddened for those who have died suddenly, for those who grieve and those injured. So many questions remain. How can someone buy so much ammunition online without raising suspicion?

According to the Huffington Post, "Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes purchased 6,000 rounds of ammunition along with four guns, online in the weeks leading up to the tragic event that claimed numerous lives and left dozens injured at a movie theater outside Denver. At a news conference on Friday night, Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said, 'My understanding is all weapons he possessed, he possessed legally. All ammunition he possessed, he possessed legally." I have the same question that many are asking, "How can someone buy 6,000 rounds of ammunition and four guns over the internet in a few weeks time without a red flag going up somewhere?" Shouldn't someone have informed law enforcement that someone out there in Colorado was getting an arsenal together? I wonder what part "deadly greed" plays in this story.

I don't understand the presence of evil in this world and I never will. I also will never understand how a young man, with a brilliant mind, who comes from a nice family can turn crazy, psychotic and possessed with evil intent, without anyone noticing anything unusual. It is beyond my comprehension.

God must be weeping too. I'm sure Christ weeps for the injured, the grieving and those who died senselessly.

There are too many violent images in our society, there are grave consequences to that. I learned that in college years ago, and I've seen it play out in horrific ways.

NJA

Christ had the most tender heart that ever beat. He shed tears at the tomb of Lazarus; he wept over the evils that were to fall upon Jerusalem. Never did a son love his mother as he did. Blessed Columba Marmion

Will God Save Us From Ourselves?

I watched a video clip of a corn farmer from Iowa, out in his dry fields, praying for rain. There has been a severe drought there and rain is desperately needed. If it doesn't come soon, the corn crop will be ruined and food prices will go up.

According to a recently released report from the National Climate Data Center, the "12-month period from July 2011-June 2012 was the warmest on record (since record keeping began in 1895), for the contiguous United States, with a nationally averaged temperature of 56.0 degrees, 3.2 degrees higher than the long-term average." Also, in June, "more than 170 all time warm temperature records were broken or tied." I find all that data troubling.

There have been recent droughts, wildfires and extreme weather such as the infamous derecho (straight line severe windstorm) which caused widespread damage and death across 700 miles in the mid-west through the mid-Atlantic United States. My cousin lives in Virginia, she experienced the full force of the derecho. According to her, the deadly storm came out of nowhere, hurricane force winds with little warning.

I believe in the power of prayer. I hope and pray the Iowa farmer gets the rain he's praying for. But it's obvious to me, since I read a lot, that we are damaging the natural environment and perhaps even throwing it into turmoil. The earth is heating up, there are consequences to polluting the environment and acting irresponsibly. We might have to face those consequences sooner than later. Thousands of scientists believe that global warming is a serious threat. I've read that the effects of global warming are extreme weather such as droughts in some places and heavy rain in others.

The Chinese have a saying, "May you live in interesting times." Well, we are certainly living in interesting times, let's just hope we are not living in times when things get out of hand, quickly......

NJA

"God Particle" One More Proof Of God's Existence

As a Christian believer and a person with a very deep faith, proof of the existence of the "God Particle," or the subatomic particle called Higgs boson, is just another proof of the existence of God for me. The Universe has order, diversity, intricacy and creative, intelligent design. It wasn't just thrown together, there is simply too much order and mathematical exactness. The Universe as we know it was created by a Divine Creator. Billions of people from all walks of life believe that. Flowers alone and their magnificent designs and colors would be proof enough for me. But in any event, the "God Particle," is a nickname for this subatomic particle that physicists believe gives mass to matter. This is, of course, a very important discovery, but scientists still cannot say who created Higgs boson or why mass exists or why intelligent beings on this planet Earth, with rational minds, can even study the Universe and the existence of matter. So many unanswered questions still exist.

I think pride ( deadly sin) keeps human beings (some at least) from giving God the credit for this magnificent and orderly, awesome creation. I sometimes think that if there wasn't a Supreme Being/Creator everything on this earth could be the same color. For instance,what if everything was the color gray? Boring!! Or what if we each had two heads, wouldn't that be annoying! The colors in the natural world are beautiful, pleasing to the eye, there is so much beauty, so much creativity present in the natural world.

Believers are thankful to God for this magnificent creation. We give praise to God for life, existence, goodness, love, mercy, compassion and joy. We don't know all the answers but we do know that God exists and God is good. There is much mystery, it surrounds us but when we pray, regardless of the religion we follow, we know that God hears us and God is present to us. Thank you God for the "God Particle," and for creating this magnificent Universe. Amen to that!

NJA

I call to God the Most High, to God, my benefactor. (Psalm 57:3)

In this circle of earthly existence you shine with radiant light so finely,

it surpasses understanding.

God hugs you, You are encircled by the arms of the Mystery of God.

Hildegard

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Gaze at the beauty of earth's greenings.

Now, think.

What delight God gives humankind with all these things.

Hildegard of Bingen