Its a nightmare come true, a horrific tragedy, a true act of “terror;” I have and am grieving for those who lost loved ones in SanBernardino….for them, and for those in Paris, and for a host of other human ills. What I am about to write is from the detached perspective on a theoretical level: this event coalesces with Christmastime in my mind. It reminds me of the truth; it makes the truth dearer to me and more important in daily life….because each day is a gift and, just like the victims of the shooting, I know not what tomorrow holds. There are no guarantees of anything.
We live in a web of deception really. I think its fair to say we Americans expect the norm of life to be made up of physical safety, comfort, upward mobility, good healthcare, and happiness. I know on a subconscious level I certainly have expected these things. Indeed, we founded our country on these “inalienable” rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Over time, however, we have redefined our humanity in the modern age (due to industrialization and our geopolitical location) on such a level as to think of sufferring in terms of scratchy pajamas and joys as a date with the DVR. We have so removed things like obtaining our very food from daily life that i think we have forgotten our humble position. We have mastered survival, or so it seems. The concerns of a fellow human in Sierra Leone are absolutely foreign here, in the full sense of the word. And with our success at physical flourishing, we have taken this “pursuit of happiness” to “a whole ‘nother level.” Anything that threatens our desired feelings…feelings of acceptance, freedom from offense, freedom from fear… is as much the enemy as poverty, starvation, and physical danger. The sobering realities of the San Bernardino shooting put all that in its place.
All threats to human happiness: disease, lack, danger, strife, and sadness — are never going to be securely defeated, by our country or any other. Never. Because….we are still only human. Every person is a wild card, and we are not the masters of our own destinies.
This crime defies all assumptions about prevention: they shot their co-workers, were parents of a young child, one was a female, one was raised in America, were well off financially, were befriended, and had freedom within the United States to pursue their brand of happiness (in this case, martyrdom in Islam). In contemporary moral thinking, shootings are carried out by bitter or poor or mentally ill people who have no friends, no money, white-male rage, took lots of psychiatric medicines, and of course were very unhappy or justifiably angry about something. However, the perpetrators of this act were shrewd and cunning, outsmarting every law and totally using America and its values against itself. Anyone could do that again, and many probably will. As America scrambles to eradicate every possible threat presented by this massacre, it becomes more evident that it just can’t be done.
So why is this bracing and strangely comforting to me? Because its a reminder of who I really am. It is when we forget who we are that we pursue ridiculous solutions to our problems. I wonder where we got the idea that we have the right to happiness and liberty? Do I even have a “right” to life? Says who?
What this shooting shows is that there is truth and there are lies.
The minute someone argues that it was wrong for this couple to shoot up their co-workers and fellow holiday party-goers, is the minute that the existence of “right” and “wrong” becomes clear. And who determined that? And where can you go to be safe?
The reality is that we do not determine all we have and are. The reality is that we are just creatures. Our lives are a vapor and vanity. What we have become and achieved, for ourselves and others, is out of our control. We do not choose where we are born, our personality, our intellect, our education, whether we are loved or whether we are safe. We do not even always choose our own desires (I would love to hate sweets!) Self-determination is largely a lie, and so is self-protection. In short, we are not God.
So what hope then do we have for life, liberty or happiness? Do we put our faith in the odds? None of us knows what tomorrow brings.
SanBernardino is just a glaring reminder that we are not our own. There is only one safe place, under the protection of the King of Kings, who made us and owns us and will shelter us for eternity if we would only acknowledge our humility and weakness before Him.
A christmas song that pulls it all together….
Who would of tho’t that long ago
So very far away
A little child would be born
And in a manger laid?
And who would have tho’t this little child
Was born the King of kings
The Son of just a carpenter
For whom the angels sing?
And who would have tho’t that as He grew
And with other children played,
This child with whom they laughed and sang
Would die for them some day?
And who would have tho’t this little child
Could make a blind man see
Feed the hungry, make rich the poor,
And set the sinner free?
Oh who would have tho’t this little child
Was who the prophets said?
Would take away the sins of man
And rise up from the dead?
O I believe! and I will always sing!
This little child, he is the King!
O I believe and I will always sing
This little child
He is the King of Kings!
Many years have come and gone,
Yet this world remains the same.
Empires have been built and fallen,
Only time has made a change.
Nation against nation,
Brother against brother,
Men so filled with hatred
Killing one another,
And over half the world is starving,
While our banner of decency is torn
Debating over disarmament,
Killing children before they’re born.
And those who march to win the right
To justify their sin,
Oh ev’ry nation that has fallen
Has fallen from within!
Yet in the midst of this darkness,
There is a hope a light that burns.
This little child the King of kings
Some day will return!
And I believe and I will always sing
This little child is the King
And I believe and I will always sing
This little child
He is the King of kings
Who would have tho’t this little child
Is who the prophets said
Will return to judge this world
The living and the dead
Oh can’t you see that long ago
So very far away
This little child our only hope
Was born a King that day
And can’t you see that here and now
As unto Him we pray
This Lord of lords who is our hope
Is still King today
He’s still the King today
song by Scott Wesley Brown
