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A
marathon usually makes us think about peace, love for life, human tenacity, a
good cause, perseverance. This year’s Boston marathon was tinted with blood,
violence and fear. Our heart and prayers went out to people in Massachusetts
while waiting for the police to solve the mistery of this terrorist attack…
We talked about
this at the workplace. We tried to understand what were the two boys thinking.
What justification could they create in their minds to be able to kill innocent
victims? How difficult it must have been for the Tsarnaev family to discover
what their kids were doing.
In my city in Passaic there
were several false alarms of bombs in schools this past week. All the kids were
mobilized out of their school. Many were consumed by their fear. The police was
mobilized with cars and helicopters and had to investigate.
Violence is not an uncommon
experience. Sometimes it is a result of our own frustrations and anger. But
other times it is covered with justifications like: “fighting for peace”, “it is
the only solution”, “it is the only way out” or what is worse; it is practiced
just for fun. Violence could express itself with physical aggression or with
violent words which also do a lot of damage. I used to like action movies. But more
and more action in movies means violence. Human life
becomes undervalued. Respect for others is vanished. Human life looses its
dignity. Even some artists
like the band Mayhem portrait violence as something cool and atractive. Many
songs, Tv programs and video games encourage a disensibilization to violence. We
are being forced to consider it as normal and common.
The Bible tells us: “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
murders… blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19). “The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9)
We (me and you) are the
responsible, the generators, and producers of violence. It is created in our
hearts, and when we allow ourselves to continue dwelling in destructive
thoughts, it grows in complexity, it becomes an attitude and starts to be
reflected in our actions.
Violence comes from our
hearts and our thinking patterns. If we justify our feelings of hatred and
desire of revenge, we will evidence violence in our marriage, our family, with
our colleagues and even against ourselves. Most of us have used violence of some
degree. Violence destroys our self-worth, our relationships, our family and our
future.
That’s why God is against
violence. Violence doesn’t make us any good. God wants us to be connected to
Him, to our friends and family, to our neighborhoods and to a healthy view of
ourselves.
Violence starts in our
hearts… my heart… your heart... and it must be cured there.
I agree with some gun control
regulations and better measures to help the mentally ill. It will prevent the
effect of self-inflicted wounds of gun owners, and their families. But what is
wrong in our heart cannot be cured by some external superficial solutions.
God says: “I will give you a
new heart and put a new spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:26).
This is why moral, heartfelt
transformation, is the best solution to the deadly and dangerous ills that are
plaguing our society. We need a new heart.
Instead of violence, we need
forgiveness, peace, understanding, and patience. Healing from violence brings
peace and joy, which is so much more desirable then
destruction.
God can help us change. But
we should make the decision. And we should be sincere. God promised to give you
a new heart, a heart more like His. And when God promises something, He does
it.
Start today. Reject every destructive though. Remember
Jesus at the cross, who was able to forgive even his torturers. Ask God to put
His thoughts in your mind. Don´t let anger to overtake your thinking. Forgive as
soon as you detect anger against somebody in your heart. Love people, love and
try to understand. Love has healing powers. And finally, love satisfies more
than violence. We love not only when people deserve it, we love when we decide
to love.
Daniel Martin
