Contents:
NEWS REPORTS TO CRY FOR
ALL A LIE
Hi, everyone,
This one comes to you live and direct from the waiting room at Ferreira Optical, where I’m waiting for my appointment with the individual who will fit me for a new set of contact lens… (ophthalmologist, maybe?) This time, I thought I would make the most of my time and bring along Tabitha (my computer) to type up this week’s MPOV. On the television at this moment is a discussion on the country’s Common Entrance examination – used to classify children as academic or non-academic as they are leaving the primary school system. One person made the point that they are teaching the children how to cram. Another says that Trinidad is borrowing from England, which is a flawed system, based on their international results. Anyway, with that in the backdrop (and two middle aged ladies across from me agreeing rather fervently with what’s being said) we launch into My Point of View.
As if it wasn’t enough to hear about the young boys, 11 and 13, who fired indiscriminately into a group of their fellow students in Arkansas; as if it wasn’t enough to read the local headlines, “Teen Kills Man with Axe”, “Chopped Woman Loses Hand”, I found the following two very disturbing reports coming from the Toronto Star online – experiences from my homeland. (http://www.thestar.com)
In one case, an 18 year old was in the Eaton Centre – a large shopping centre in the downtown core. Apparently he bumped into another fellow who was with his friends and I’m not sure what happened next, but the young man was chased out of the mall and stabbed to death on a busy downtown corner while at least 100 people watched. And it seems, based on the newspaper reports and the location of the funeral, that he was a Seventh-day Adventist. Frankie Lazarus, Toronto Area SDA Youth Director said at the funeral, “Somehow we’ve got to stop the madness! We have to find a way to stop the killing.” He couldn’t be more right… We’ve found ways to die together, some say a great scientific achievement… Why can’t we find a way to live together?
Another story, same paper, same week, and this one with racial overtones. A young 11 year old Russian lad was being terrorized by 4 other 11-year old grade sixers – these ones Iranian. As if being slapped around by 4 bullies wasn’t enough, the 17 year old brother of one of the Iranian kids saw what was happening from his apartment window, grabbed a hockey stick and came running. The youngster may not have known what hit him when the 17 year old blind sided him with a vicious chop. The 11 year old eventually fell, and the Iranian youth rained down blows upon him, battering him within inches of death. Right now, he’s in a drug induced coma, as doctors try to save his life.
Where are we going, as a society? When our kids resort to violence,
what hope do we have? There is only one – one life changing answer.
It’s not New Age, that says you are your own God. It’s not Atheism,
that says there is no God. It’s not Hinduism that says your God is
a cow. The only answer is Jesus Christ, who can transform the heart
in an instant. I fear for what we are becoming, without Him.
Well… hmmm… it is a rather interesting thing to have someone admit to
lying to you. In a way, it’s a victory. Before, you’re trying
to trap him in his lies and he won’t admit them, finding one way or another
to wiggle out of it, or explain his lies away. But in a way, there’s
a certain sadness in knowing that someone has been reduced to the state
in life where they have to lie to get a dollar or two.
<sigh>
I remember watching a play in which a man played blind so that he could
beg. And then at one point, someone took a dollar out of his cup,
and he looked over and chased them. We laughed, as an audience, but
when you think about it, it’s not a funny situation at all.
One day, there’ll be no beggars, no reason to beg. Everyone will
be happy. No-one will plant a vineyard and have another drink its
juice. No-one will see the fruits of his/her labour enjoyed by another.
But that day is not yet here. Until then, we have a responsibility
to live responsibly so that those around us are not subjected to the kind
of poverty we see in the world today. The only way we can have really
rich folk is to have really poor folk to balance them out. Wealth
by exploitation has been a common theme in the “civilised” world.
Let’s stop it now. It’s not enough to condemn the poor as lazy.
They don’t need hand-outs, they need hand-ups – skills, abilities, and
tools so that they can be productive and contributing members of society.
It’s late… I’m tired. God is real. If he weren’t, there’d be a pitifully small amount of hope to go around in this world. May He bless you all in a special way,
Your brother,
Dave.