from Hobblestone’s Diary (he lets me read it from time to time).
“At Mass this morning I couldn’t stop
thinking about all those people who were killed in Colorado the other day.
Horrible victims. There they were, expecting to have a good time; for some, it
became their last time on earth. For others, it was the beginning of a
nightmare. I also couldn’t help thinking of the pain their families and friends
must be suffering. I know I don’t know anything about that pain, but I at least
think I know that it is much, much worse than anything I have suffered so far
in my life
Fr. Anderssohn (it has two
s’s in it, like in Mendelssohn) talked
about it in his homily. He spoke about how there is truly evil in this world,
and how that evil seeks to destroy innocent victims. He spoke about how the
deranged young man who was responsible for the horror was also a victim—he,
too, at one time had been innocent—but something happened and evil managed to
get its hooks into him. I’m finding it very hard to think of him as an innocent
victim of evil, but in my heart of hearts, I sense that Father spoke the truth.
A number of people in the church
were very offended by what he said about the shooter, and got up and walked out
of the church. I don’t know for sure, but it seemed to me as if they were still
so stuck in their anger and dismay and their desire for vengeance and
punishment that they simply weren’t ready to hear something that was seeking to
guide them as well, to guide them out of their anger and vengeful thoughts. But
they didn’t want that.
I told Aunt Millificent about
this when we went to the Rusty Bumblebee Café for our usual after-Mass brunch.
She listened to what I had to say and then closed her eyes and was silent. I
braced myself, because I knew from past experience that I was about to be on
the receiving end of a Teaching Moment, as
she always calls it.
But she didn’t say anything at
all. Now, of course, I’m wondering what she was thinking. I’m wondering about
what she didn’t say. I think that I said something to her that had
pained or upset her. But I can’t know for sure—at least I know that much: I
can’t know for sure.
There are so many things that I
don’t know about, and it seems like they’ve piled up today. UH-OH! For a while
there, I was speaking as if I did know why those people left the church.
I’ll bet that’s what upset her. But then again, I can’t know for sure.
At that point, Harry came by and
joined us for brunch. He had stayed behind after Mass to talk with Fr.
Anderssohn about some volunteer work he was doing next week with Samantha. Aunt
Millificent and I never got to finish our discussion. I’m sure we’ll take it up
again at some other time. But then again, I can’t know for sure.
One more thing: I’m sorry those
people left the church when they did, because the end of Father’s homily was a
hum-dinger: All he did was point to the crucifix—point to the body on the
cross—and repeated the words he had said earlier: “Evil seeks to destroy innocent
victims.” He left the rest of the thinking to us.
Rule # 136: Evil seeks the destruction of innocent victims. It that’s
true, then we also have to ask: Who or what is it that can destroy evil? The
answer to this is very important.
Rule # 200: Evil sometimes works through people. Even good people.
Rule # 201: Sometimes, the doers of evil are victims themselves.
Rule # 114: When people are
challenged more than they are ready for, sometimes they have to walk away.
This has been a
pretty serious entry. Let’s not get distracted from it by thinking about any of
the following: 1) the politics of gun laws; 2) finding someone or something to
blame; 3) atheists.
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