I always love pot luck dinners and picnics- especially when everyone brings whatever they please. No telling if you’ll have six types of baked beans (Best attempted only if you are single) or get to sample 6 homemade desserts (break out the insulin!) Why not apply the same practice to my Blog occasionally? Today I’ll put down some random thoughts. Baked beans or desserts? Part of the fun is diving in and finding out.
I wasn’t kidding about the shoes!
“Earthly riches are full of poverty.” St. Augustine Yellow shoes: I watched the fifteen hundred meter men’s Olympic semi-finals yesterday. The runners all had yellow shoes on. I thought it might be a visibility thing. Those distance runners are always tripping over each other’s feet. Extensive (five minute) research agrees that it is a visibility thing. That is Nike and other shoe companies want the runners in those yuck yellow shoes because that color is easier to see. Guess it worked- I did notice the shoes. Buy them? I think not (partially because I have no intent on running anywhere.)
I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me. Matthew:25:36 NLT The Aurora movie theatre killings, the pending plea of Jared Lee Loughner (Gabby Giffords), and the shooting at the Sikh temple yesterday all have something in common: people who obviously had some mental issues. But we have always had people with mental health problems. But they have not always gone around committing mass murder. I think two things contribute to the increased rise in violence. One is that guns are entirely too easy to obtain. Gun laws exist that aren’t enforced. Certain weapons are legally allowed that clearly go outside the realm of self-protection or sport. The second area that we fail is being a community. I was around a couple mentally disabled people as I grew up. I distinctly remember that they were taken care of by the whole neighborhood. This allowed for better functioning of those with mental disabilities or mental illness. Now we don’t venture outside our doors. The disintegration of community is a modern day tragedy, and we are paying the price for it.
Awwwwwe
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV Our Youth Pastor and his honey are getting married in Baltimore this weekend. Congrats to Schestin and Desiree. I have watched their relationship continue to grow since they became engaged 8 months ago. I believe this is anchored in their commitment to their marriage being a covenant with God. They have done things the right way and I’m so proud of them.
“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.” Mark 9:42 NIV
Lataevia
Lataevia Williams. If that name doesn’t ring a bell let me fill you in. On August 1 Lataevia went to a birthday party. Things got out of hand outside. Lataevia went outside to check it out. Her penalty: a bullet struck and killed her. Lataevia was 14. The violence just doesn’t make sense. I ask you to pray for her, her family and all of our children. God we need your help in a bad way.
God Bless,
Mark
Docmarks Place's Blog 
Just Stop!
August 8, 2011 at 8:02 pm (commentary, docmark's philosophy, Spirituality)
Tags: anger, Carmella Holley, Copley Massacre, gun violence, peace, prayer, tragedy, wisdom
Carmella Holley
Ed. Note: I don’t normally write about the news of the day. I also on’t jump on stories just because they are big. I’m writing this Blog because my heart is heavy, and writing helps me heal. Thanks for allowing me the privilege of expressing my feelings.
But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Matthew 5:39
“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea…” Matthew 18:6
Have you ever heard of Carmella Holley? She was an 11 year old Akron girl who was shot and died from a single stray bullet in gun fight in Akron. This happened on 8/3, less than a week ago. Sunday we prayed for her and her family and friends at church. Our pastor, Dr. Swoope, talked about the danger of guns and the biggest problem, the idiots that use them [lots of paraphrasing by me]. Less than thirty minutes later, tragedy struck again. An angry man shot his girlfriend (in intensive care) and killed six others in Copley, Ohio (Adjacent to Akron). Two teens just happened to be sitting in a car after a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpas. The teens were shot to death, along with their grandparents, for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Another boy, age 11, and his dad, were shot because they were the brother and nephew of the shooter’s girlfriend.
… One of Carmella’s shooters (I’m not a fan of the word allegedly) has been caught, the other is still at large. Yet little is being said on the news about the man at large. Between the multiple shootings in Copley and Anthony Sowell taking the stand today in the death penalty phase of his trial there just isn’t room. How wrong is it that there is so much tragedy that finding an at large killer of an innocent 11 year old girl comes in third.
… When did shooting become part of conflict resolution? When I was young we fought with our fists. I volunteered at a camp this summer held at a school with metal detectors meant to keep guns and knives out of school. And in on local high school a state champion swimmer brought an automatic weapon to school but received no jail time as he left it in the trunk of his car. How did we get from fist fights to Uzis? Can we ever go back?
… Last night my daughter and I went to dinner after seeing the news of the Copley shootings. The guy in front of us ordered 150 hamburgers. I was very irritated that he hadn’t called ahead…that is until he turned around. He was a Red Cross worker bringing sandwiches to law officers and families at the crime sight. I felt humbled instantly. How quickly we forget the pain of others. And how small our problems really are compared to those others face.
… We recurrently hear that a lot of these shootings involve someone with mental health difficulties. As a person who has suffered with mental health issues (Thankfully very under control!), I can tell you that the system is broken. Burgeoning numbers of patients, partially fueled by the economic turn down, and decreasing funding plagues the system. If you can’t jump through the hoops, you will never get care. Have you ever tried to jump through those hoops when you depressed, hearing voices, or even paranoid. I have, and it’s incredibly hard. This is complicated by the interface between the legal and mental health systems, which is non-existent in most counties and states. Minor infractions often get the mentally ill in the legal system, and offenses worsen and get more frequent as mental health care is very hard to deliver in jails and prisons. And arrangements for care after incarceration are minimal at best. The solution to these problems is also a solution to many of these tragedies.
… Finally, if in doubt pray.
Father, thank you for our blessings. Please comfort the many families who have experienced tragic loss of loved ones. Let them heal. And even though there will be scars, let them be patches to a new live where we grow even from our deepest tragedies. Protect our children that have left this world way too early. Bless the families as they move forward, it is so easy to stay stuck in the same place. And let us gain wisdom and peaceful nature to conflict resolution, because our children are way too precious to have even one lose a drop of blood again. Amen
God Bless,
Mark
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