The idea that all humanity's problems are called by the misuse of our free will is a gross oversimplification. On the contrary, I am prone to want to ask God how we humans can be held responsible when our minds betray us. In the wake of the terrible shooting tragedy at Wedgewood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, reports have surfaced that the shooter, Larry Gene Ashbrook, was under a doctor's care and taking Prozac for paranoid-schizophrenia. If Mr. Ashbrook was suffering from this terrible disease and had failed to maintain his dosage intake, we may be able to determine that he was acting on a delusion or a series of delusions precipitated by his illness. Certainly any explanation offered for this man's horrific actions do not lessen the sense of profound grief and loss that all of the victims' families continue to feel.
Life does seem to hammer some people in merciless ways.
Sometimes the only appropriate response is fully to feel our grief and pain without having to endure a misguided guilt for being fully human. In those hours and days of helplessness, we should feel the freedom to express our honest feelings with God, instead of having to contrive a posture of false piety and positive emotions. There is a measure of comfort in the most difficult of times when we remember that we are loved by the Lord wherever we are and however we feel. Your comments and inquiries are always welcome. Today Foundation Web Site started November 14, 2000.