What the World Needs Now...

I don't often show my emotions physically while listening to or reading news, but today I shed a few tears. It's not that I don't care deeply about the multitude of recent tragedies which occurred from national disasters, but something touched me particularly with the Las Vegas incident. Perhaps it was because it followed some senseless violence that left three dead and two wounded in my own home town in the early morning hours of Sunday. We aren't used to this, and I pray to God that we never become so.

I think my grief came mostly because of the innocence of the victims, and the inhumanity of those who committed the heinous crimes. What makes some humans want to hurt others? I still believe it is a minority of individuals who perpetrate such evil in the world, but I am most worried about how to respond.

Naturally the gun control debate will arise. Sure, criminals will always have guns, but they aren't the ones I am worried about anymore. I'm concerned about people like the Vegas gunman who seem to be okay and then go off on a rampage. We don't know why he did it, nor can we understand why some actions are borne of radical beliefs stemming from religion or race, for example.

It's a no-brainer that people, who don't know the proper use of guns or have a mental illness instability predisposed to harm, shouldn't have access to them. Regardless of how either side of the gun control debate feels, they should all agree that guns require a certain responsibility, and not everyone should be endowed with "the right" to have them. How to address that is the question.

But, how do we stop all of this madness where a man wants to kill others? It comes down to societal change, I think.Personally, I don't want to live in a world of fear, and I certainly don't want to live in a world where violence must be answered with violence.

Jesus proved true, positive change comes by changing the heart of man. In the end, I realize that may not happen with everyone, but perhaps we can still affect some change to make this world a better place, and that means we must look at ourselves.

How do we treat our fellowman? Do we constantly put ourselves first or do we actively try to answer some of the need that exists? Do we answer violence with violence? Do we promote justice and caring?

Perhaps what tragedy shows us most of all is that the greatest need is love, and I believe out of that will surely come the good that we seek instead of evil.