News Where I Live

How strange to see the town where I live and my kids go to school in the national and international news. The NIU shooting took place while I was at work, some thirty miles away but my family was only a few miles from the scene when it happened. Here in DeKalb NIU is the largest single employer and its safe to say that virtually everyone knows someone who works on campus, so our thoughts immediately went to them.

We also knew students. A woman whose family we are close to is completing a law degree at NIU, her family moved to town from out of state to pursue her education and our daughters are very good friends. A co-worker of mine was locked down inside Reavis Hall, just southwest of Cole, where the shooting took place. She tells me that students were already packing up their things and that within moments she would have walked directly past Cole's South entrance. But as they were locked in their classroom some students took up positions near the door, brandishing heavy objects to challenge any would-be shooter who may enter. Others in the class became emotional. From the window of the class, which faced west, students watched emergency vehicles arrive and watched as paramedics wheeled the wounded and dying to waiting ambulances. Attempts at humor were made to break the tension. The class had just written essays on their "moment of truth" moment in life and one student asked the prof, "can I re-write mine."

I had heard the tail end of a news broadcast as I left work and had just spoken to my wife. I was on my way to a night class I am taking close to work. Patti told me she was planning on taking the kids to eat at The Junction, a favorite restaurant of locals, situated just south of NIU accross Lincoln Hwy. In the broadcast I only heard there were injured being evacuated from the campus. I called my wife to let her know she may want to pick a different restaurant as there was something going on at NIU and she may want to stay out of the area. She informed me that it had been a shooting.

All the way to class I listened for more information. I thought of who I knew and prayed for their safety. Fortunately I was in a computer class so while the professor spoke, I logged onto my work email and thankfully my co-worker had emailed all of her contacts to let us know she was well.

On the drive home from class, my town was the topic of radio call in shows. On Friday morning as I left for my men's Bible study, I drove past Kishwaukee Hospital and saw the news broadcast vans parked in the lot, with their antennae extended skyward. The shooting, of course, was the topic of conversation that morning as we wondered how Christians should answer the questions of why such things happen and how a loving God can allow it. We talked of a member of our congregation who was a surgeon at Kish and later that day I saw him at a press conference and this morning he is pictured in our paper surrounded by cameras and microphones. Our church serves NIU students through some of our ministries and those staff members emailed asking for prayer as they reach out to those students.

It is all so strange to be living in today's Littleton, CO; Springfield, OR; Conyers, GA; Santee, CA; Blacksburg, VA. Just one more location to add to the growing timeline of school shootings. Only this time it's home, it's people we know and care deeply about. Evil showed its face in our town this time. When the politicians talk of "deepest thoughts are with the families," they are talking about here and about people who are part of this community. Someone told me that when you see it on the news it feels like it must be someplace else, but it isn't.

Well, I guess that's it for a few random thoughts on the events of the last couple of days. Please do pray for those involved, from the victims and their loved ones to the paramedics, doctors, witnesses, community members, ministers, and even the clean up crews who must deal with the aftermath. Pray for the NIU faculty and administration and students who must eventually return to class. It's not just nameless, faceless people on the TV standing on a wind-blown campus speaking into cell phones. It is place just like the place you live with families and community. And it could have been your community that is now asking questions like, "why here?"

The Latest From Londonistan

A volunteer at work reported this to me yesterday afternoon. Apparently the Labour government in jolly old England has gone completely dhimi (as if they could go any more). The government of PM Gordon Brown has decided that men married to multiple wives (in other words Muslim men who violate English law by practicing polygamy) are entitled to extra welfare benefits. What's worse is that the payments can go directly into the man's bank account meaning the poor woman will never see it.

Is there no end to which the British will go to bow down before the Islamists who seek to destroy all semblance of Western culture in that nation? This is the once pround nation that stood alone in a desperate fight against fascism until America came to its aid. But something has happened in the character of the people so that now in the face of cultural collapse they are willing to see their institutions and way of life supplanted by a foreign ideology.

I wish I could say "unbelievable," but sadly this is not surprising. The English who gave us the Magna Carta and so much of our own legal tradition has now surrendered to a practice that brutalizes and denies human rights to women. Sharia law is replacing human rights in the UK, other rights and freedoms will be sure to follow. Unless the people of that land re-discover their heritage of freedom, we could see the final demise of Britania in our lifetime.

The Change

I find myself losing interest in the world of politics. It's probably been happening for awhile, but lately it has grown into an outright disdain for it all. This is not the "what's the use, they're all the same..." type of anti-politics we've all seen (although I have uttered those words occassionally of late). This is more of a growing realization that neither the "liberals" nor the "conservatives" hold any answers to the problems that face our society. Both seem to be fiddling while Rome burns.

Signs have been there for awhile, but the fact became clear when I realized my wife was more animated about the upcoming primary and local elections than I was. Furthermore, I find myself less inclined to enter into political discussions when I am at family gatherings. Instead, my energies are being pulled in a new direction.

During my college years I was deffinitely a rabid liberal while shortly after I transformed into a hardcore conservative somewhere to the right of Rush Limbaugh. During the last couple years, as I have become more focused on my Christian identity, I have come to realize that my conservatism had taken on a deffinite Pharisaical streak of righteous indignation, judgmentalism and devoid of mecy, compassion and forgiveness.

Increasingly, as I spent time with my men's community group and studying more on my own I felt God's Spirit pointing at those judgmental attitudes as deep rooted sins that needed to be dealt with.

During this same time, our town experienced a shooting that brought, at least temporarily, the issue of gangs to the forefront of the community's thoughts. I did a bit of digging and came upon some information about some of those involved in the shooting and other young people involved in our local gangs. Additionally, I had frequent conversations with a co-worker who also worked with BD children in our high school. My wife also took a new job that placed her in what turns out to be the lowest performing elementary school with the highest rate of low income students in our district. The stories of broken homes, uncertainty and hardship opened my eyes to several realities.

Clearly, the government programs and class warfare outlook of my liberal years had failed. Decades of welfare had only resulted in moral decay and generations of dependence with no real hope for change. But what of my conversion to conservatism? That "pull youself up by your bootstraps" and "serves them right" attitude certainly is not in keeping with an honest look at the teachings of Jesus.

Change has deffinitely taken place and is taking place. And I am utterly psyched about that change! For months I have spoken of my growing concern for the disadvantaged kids in our area and my sense of hopelessness at what could be done. Then, a month ago I attended a men's breakfast at the main campus of our church. The focus was on serving the community and one of the speakers was Tony Danhelka of Riverwoods Christian Center, a remarkable ministry serving those living in poverty. God had opened a door and I set up a meeting with Tony and the leader of my community group.

That got the ball rolling and I will soon meet with Kirsten Strand of Community 4:12, a ministry serving kids in East Aurora, Illinois. I am hoping from these two meetings to get some direction as to a model for how our church, in cooperation with other churches in the community can begin to take real action to share God's love in tangible ways.

This is really stretching my politics. Words like "social justice" and "compassion" have been so perverted by the left that I have tended to be repulsed by them. But in light of Jesus' teaching, we cannot ignore them simply because they have been misused in the political sphere. Nor can we simply spout old conservative talking points about "self-reliance" when speaking of people in need. That only excuses ourselves of our responsibility to help.

In short, neither side of the political debate can fix this through any political solution. The solution is community. It is neighbors who take the time and use their resources to heal and to care for the hurting all around us, with the ultimate goal of not just meeting physical needs but also to bring them to the One who can heal their spiritual hurts as well.

Meanwhile, in the world of politics, the same old debate rages on and I am saddened to see the resources wasted on that which will not last. I heard on the radio that the Obama campaign raised in excess of $30 million in January alone (not to pick on Obama, he's just the one mentioned in the story). And it is estimated that the various presidential candidates will spend $20 million on TV advertising for Super Tuesday. So much to gain power, yet that power cannot possibly solve the real problems in our society.

Well, there it is. I'm not sure where these changes will lead, I guess that is not really up to me anyway.