Fighting Darkness

I debated writing about the recent shooting. Everyone seemed to have condolences and opinions on gun control to share ad nauseum, and I just didn’t feel like adding to the noise. Also, the shooting didn’t shake me. Mass shootings have become so common place that I don’t have emotional reactions to them. The twist of it happening at an elementary school was sad, but still I felt nothing. I felt nothing until about 48 hours later when I began seeing these posts on facebook:

Then I felt something: disgust. If your god abandons children because of a Supreme Court ruling, then you’re worshiping a bad god. 

I don’t believe any of these debates will change anything in our culture; they haven’t before. There will be more shootings; I accept that as fact in modern America. More American children will die from a gunman. And more Pakistani children will die from drone strikes. And more Nigerian children will die of malnutrition. And part of me wants to keep feeling nothing, because if I start feeling bad for one, I have to feel bad for the rest. I have to mourn with the thousands of parents who lose their children every day, who see such young potential and ambition and life extinguished prematurely. I’m too weak to feel for all of them; it’s a self-preservation thing. I try to feel just enough to want to make a difference without being overwhelmingly depressed. 

This is supposed to be the time of year focusing on the birth of a child, not the deaths of children. But thousands of children die every day, whether it’s Christmas or not.  So maybe it is the time to think about the dying children, to look at the broken world where children face violence and abuse and disease and malnutrition. It's time to face darkness.

How can we possibly fix such an evil world? Sometimes the darkness is overwhelming. The evil closes in. And it is when the evil is closing in, when darkness overwhelms, when you are mourning over the innocent lives lost, that a small flicker of light makes the greatest impact. Advent is all about overcoming the darkness. When the nights are long and dark, when evil surrounds us and seems unstoppable, Advent tells us there is a coming salvation. It is a message of hope, that though we live in a broken, dark world, the healing light will prevail. What seems impossible is truth. We will be redeemed. 

Promises of hope may not mean much to a parent who just lost a child. We all suffer those moments where the darkness is thick and unrelenting. Part of being a Christian is helping others through those times. By being a comforting friend, an advocate for injustice, or just a silent shoulder to cry on. By bonding together, by not pointing fingers and rejecting blame, by loving everyone as a neighbor, we increase the light. Love fights against darkness. Love comforts. Love conquers.

7 Quick Takes Friday (vol. 56)

I’ve spent most of this week catching up on this semester’s sleep. But, since it’s the winter solace and the supposed Mayan Apocalypse, here are some other dates of the end of the world:

1. 634 BC: Many early Romans feared a prediction of Rome’s destruction would occur in the city’s 120th year. The legend said that twelve eagles had revealed to Romulus the life of Rome, with each eagle representing ten years. 

2. 1000: As Christianity completed its first millennium, many Christians believed the end of the world was close, sparking riots throughout Europe.  Recalling the 1999-2000 year change, I must imagine that the move to four digits must have included some crazy partying along with the crazies. 

3. 1524: An unusual planetary alignment in Pieces sparked end of the world predictions from astrologers in Germany and England. People believed a large flood would destroy the world. Clearly, they forgot the whole rainbow part of Noah’s story.

4. 1806: In Leeds, a hen began hatching eggs with the phrase “Christ is coming” written on them.  People interpreted it as a sign of impending doom, creating a local panic. It was later revealed that the hen’s owner had etched on the eggs and inserted them into the hen. 

5. 1843: The Millerites, a sect born out of the Second Great Awakening, believed that the Bible predicted the end of the world occurred in April of 1843. Many gave up all their property and belongings in anticipation of the Apocalypse. When April passed (dubbed the Great Disappointment), the date was moved to December, and then early 1844. The Adventist movement that grew out of this continues to predict end times from the Bible. 

6. Y2K: Similar to 1000, many Christians viewed the end of the millennium as a sign of the Apocalypse. There was also the widespread belief that all the computers would be unable to read the year 2000, revert of 1900, and crash. Fortunately, computer programmers were wise enough to not destroy the world over two digits.

7. Obligatory R.E.M. reference:

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only." Matthew 24: 35-36
 
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7 Quick Takes Friday (vol. 55)

1. I few hours after I wrote my post about the Immaculate Conception and nonlinear time, I learned that December 8 was Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day. I'm so hip. 

2. The campus center didn’t have services on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, so I went to the local parish. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Latin for the Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus and the Agnes Dei. They are starting to offer Latin services every other week, and hopefully I can make it to one soon. [insert promise to self to study my Latin with no real intention to do so here] 

3. Krispy Kreme has red velvet doughnuts and snowman shaped doughnuts for Christmas. I really hate that I discovered that. At the same time, I found a perfect post-finals treat.

5. The cutest look at Curiosity. Cool things to find. In other space news, it’s been over 40 years since we’ve had a man on the moon. Sads.   

6. I got an eye infection this week that made me uber-sensitive to light. Do you want to know what you can’t use when you’re photophobic? Computers, TVs, smartphones (even with brightness turned all the way down), reading lamps. Life gets pretty boring. Fortunately, St. Lucy came through for me, and it seems to be clearing up (I actually went out in the sun and everything). 

7. Finally, finally on break! I haven’t had a Christmas break in three years, and I’m sort of excited to have it again. As I turned in my finals, teachers kept telling me “Have a good Christmas.” I was in such a study daze, I had completely forgotten about the whole Christmas thing. But now that I have no academic responsibilities for a month, I’m ready to get my Yule on.

4. I thought I had finished my Quick Takes until I realized I had no #4. I'm leaving it this way to show how sleep deprived I am. So, random awesome cello music:

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