The Crazed Carnage
A Dark pall hangs over the little town of Newtown, Connecticut today, just two weeks before Christmas. This little town with one stop light, will never be the same again. Friday, December 14, 2012 in a matter of minutes changed all that. It certainly will become a day that will live on in infamy.
The shooting of twenty children (12 girls and 8 boys) and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, (one of the worst in U.S. history,) immediately ignited painful memories of the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, and the Virginia Tech rampage in 2007.
Our sincerest prayers and deepest sympathies go out to the parents whose hearts are broken beyond human repair over this terrible tragedy. Who can adequately explain the tragic loss of a child? Neither can our words express the way we feel for the teachers and administrators and students who knew them all so personally. May they all feel God’s comforting presence today and in the coming days of grief and despair?
While police were still trying to fit the multiple pieces of the jig saw puzzle together they tell us that the shooter Adam Lanza suffered from a social disorder characterized by a lack of empathy for others. Lanza, 20, previously killed his mother at their home before committing his shameful deed in the New England town. Lanza then turned the revolver on himself committing suicide.
We have also learned from his 24-year old brother Ryan Lanza that his brother Adam suffered from Asperger Syndrome. Eighteen of the pupils, roughly ages five to 10, died on the spot, and two in hospital. The bodies of all of the deceased victims were identified by early Saturday morning, Connecticut State Police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance said. School principal Dawn Hochsprung and psychologist Mary Scherlach were among the six other adults who were killed.
Lack of empathy is the most dysfunctional aspect of Asperger Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder that involves significant difficulties in social interaction, including a failure to develop friendships or to seek shared enjoyments or achievements with others.
People in the community who knew Adam said that they saw symptoms of disorder in his behavior as he would often flare-up in erratic outbursts. Although he was very intelligent and a computer geek he had major personal problems. His brother Ryan Lanza said he had not been in touch with his brother for about two years.
Law enforcement officers also informed us that Adam Lanza had no known criminal record. The two Glock and Sig Sauer pistols police found inside the school had been legally bought and registered by his 52-year-old mother. A .223-caliber rifle, also registered under Nancy Lanza, was found in the back of a car at the school.
Adam moved to Connecticut from Kingston, N.H., with his parents and older brother Ryan. However, three years ago, Adam’s parents divorced, according to court documents. His father, Peter Lanza, remarried and lived not too far from Newtown.
The shockwaves were felt all the way up to the White House where President Obama speaking said; “Our hearts are broken” for the victims. ”
A vigil service was held at the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic church in Newton with hundreds outside holding hands in circles and saying prayers. Others lit prayer candles and sang “Silent Night,”
The parish priest, Robert Weiss, said he spent much of Friday with the families of victims but he could not give them any answers about what happened.
Franklin Graham, the president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, responded to the “senseless killing,” saying, “The Bible tells us the human heart is ‘wicked’ and ‘who can know it?’ My heart aches for the victims, their families and the entire community.”
Graham assured in a statement that “God loves each one of the victims and all those who are suffering right now as a result of this vicious act.” He called on the entire nation to “embrace the community of Newtown with our love and cover them with our prayers, asking for God’s perfect comfort and peace in the midst of this dark hour.”
Personally, I hope we will not miss the bigger issue here which is that it is not guns but morality. We need more of God back in our schools and the Ten Commandments back on the wall. Our so-called Progressive society experts have ppushed God out of the schools as well as many other areas of our culture, which every fight to have a public Nativity; and so when tragedy strikes let us not wonder where God is. He’s on the outsdie waiting to be invited back in.
Trying to make education morally neutral has not worked. We must return to the source of absolute truth – God and His Word – and recognize that abolishing of these Biblical principles from our society leaves the opportunity for pure evil to take root and the result can be what we saw today: the worst school massacre in our nation’s history.”
Let me close with this Prayer from Pastor Max Lucado for the comforting of the people of Newtown, Connecticut,
Dear Jesus,
It’s a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately.
These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated.
The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button-push away from annihilation?
Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas. But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night. The shepherds were nightshift workers. The Wise Men followed a star. Your first cries were heard in the shadows. To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark with Herod’s jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty. Dark with violence.
Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.
Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won’t you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.
This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.
Hopefully,
Your Children
Pastor Bob