When Evil Visits.

I told my six-year old, Mercy, about the Newtown, CT shooting, the day it happened.

I held her in my lap as I tearfully explained that a bad man had done a very bad thing by killing about 20 kids and six adults, and also himself.  I explained that he was dead and couldn't hurt anyone anymore.  She cried with me.  We watched the President's first public response together and cried some more. I held her tight into my chest, and lamented that those parents who lost their babies could no longer feel that wholeness.

The experience in telling her these things was a bit unreal, and perhaps some parents would disagree with me that I did it in the first place--why expose a young, innocent mind to the evils of this world so early?

My reasoning was two-fold: first, I wanted her to hear it from me before she had the chance to potentially hear it from busmates, classmates, or her teacher.  She is in fact only in first grade, but I cannot control the exposure she has outside of my care.  So I wanted to teach her a proper reaction, which leads to my second reason: I wanted her to see that it is okay to be sad about these sorts of things. The Bible says to "mourn with those who mourn," and even though we don't personally know these people, we are still connected in many ways.  

Little did I know that she would stand up in class on Monday and make an announcement about the shooting.  I guess with her teacher's permission, Mercy gave about a five minute speech about Sandy Hook Elementary.  I had her recount to me what she told them, a little afraid that I would be receiving angry phone calls from parents.  After what she told me, though, I must say she did a pretty good job.  She gave them a limited account of the event.  She talked about how the parents would be missing their children, and families would be missing their family.  She reassured her peers, stating that the reason they have practice drills at school are to ensure that nothing like that would ever happen to them.  She also reassured them that the children who died are now in Heaven where God can protect them.  That last part there kinda made me gasp...oooh, talking about Heaven in school?  Well, even though we believe in Heaven in our house, I hope it doesn't ruffle any feathers at a state institution.  But so far, I haven't gotten any feedback so I think that means we are in the clear.

After I told a friend about what Mercy said, they asked me what I believe Heaven to be.  So many people think of the fluffy white clouds, playing harps and the like.  I know there are plenty of Biblical references to Heaven, which can sometimes seem a bit cryptic (although I did find Randy Alcorn's book 'Heaven' to be helpful in understanding some of these verses).  I think it is because Heaven is a place we haven't truly experienced here on earth.  The only way I can accurately describe what I believe it to be is where everything is made right.  We all get the sense that something is off in this world, that there are hopes that need fulfillment, injustices that need retribution, and decay that needs restoration.  

In an abridged exposure to this world's painful reality, my hope is for Mercy and my other children that they can be trained how to appropriately respond and love others during these strange tragedies.  My prayer is that they don't turn into cynics, but instead they turn into blossoming love machines who have eternity in mind.  

And with that, I leave you with this, a few lyrics and a quote that have affected me as I long for Heaven and Jesus to make everything new.

"There’s a time for peace and there is a time for war
a time to forgive and a time to settle the score
a time for babies to lose their lives
a time for hunger and genocide
this too shall be made right."

-Derek Webb

 

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world." 

― C.S. Lewis

Why 'Silver Linings Playbook' is golden.

photo courtesy IMDB.com

Have you seen this movie yet?  If you haven't, you should.

Here is my short response as to why I liked it.

1.  It has Bradley Cooper. (Which, to qualify, my LEAST favorite role of his was in The Hangover series.  He really is so talented in his other movies.  All right, all right, he's also smokin' hot.)

2.  It explores the theme of mental health, outside of the psych ward.  

  There have been great movies about crazy people.  "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "It's Kinda a Funny Story," or even "Girl, Interrupted," from which this blog's name is derived (first a book).  All take place in a psych ward.  If the setting isn't a psych ward, mental illness is usually a caveat theme.  In this movie, it was explored in the context of home life and was the main driving force.  It's estimated that one in four people have some form of a mental illness, so why don't we talk about it more?  Well, as my mom says, it's so negative.  Which leads me to my next point...

3.   It's funny.

  There was a time when I could not laugh about my illness.  It can feel so dark, hopeless, and grave at times, and is treated by others as taboo. This closet-minded mentality can make the monster seem so big and huge and scary (which, I am not trying to trivialize some of the dark things that come with it).  But that attitude of being afraid to even talk about it or acknowledge its existence is beginning to unravel as more and more mainstream figures "come out of the closet" as having these struggles.  And sometimes, it is almost necessary to poke fun at the absurdity of it all.  The movie does that, and to boot, it has a feel-good ending.  


All in all, I give this movie four little blue pills.  Which is my highest ranking, in case you were wondering.