Beech Tree News Network

ABOMINATION:  What can I say about the events of the past week that might truly make a real difference? Yet again, I was shocked, saddened, bewildered and angered, by news of another mass shooting, this one the worse one ever perpetrated on American soil by the standard of the amount of lives lost but when even one life is lost, to such savagery and senseless violence, it is a tragedy that should break the hearts of each and every one of us with hearts capable of feeling empathy. The first time I heard about the shooting I was actually in church, as our pastor shared some thoughts about the contradictions of light and darkness in this world and then lead us in prayer, asking for healing. Of course, since then, every news outlet has been covering the event at length, trying to piece together details into how and why such a thing occurred.

It is more than sad, what happened in Orlando, it goes beyond shocking, events such as this truly are an; abomination. I looked up abomination in an on-line dictionary and it said it was something that brought on extreme feelings of disgust or hate; loathsomeness. My older hand held dictionary had a definition though, that I feel comes closer to what the word originally meant and its proper usage; it was- out of natural order; no right to exist in the world.

Events such as this shooting and other similar atrocities do not belong to the natural order, they go against original design, they have no right existing at all. Twisting that same logic, into believing that applies to fellow human beings, has been at the root of a lot of evil and bloodshed, done in the name of Deity, which of course God, actually had no part in.

The word- Abomination, is thrown around a lot in some circles, usually to distance themselves from others, different from themselves. Do you want to know some things, which are truly abominations? If you doubt me, you can look it up for yourself, it isn't hard to find, just do a quick search. A lying tongue is an abomination; why, because it hides truth, something never built in to the original design. Haughty eyes are an abomination and haughty means arrogant or superior; no one has the right to feel superior, to any of your brothers or sisters around you. Abomination includes- Hands that shed innocent blood and innocent does not just mean -not guilty but refers to sacrificing a child in an act of appeasement, something once taken for granted but never was designed to even be a part of this world. Usury is considered an abomination; technically, interest charged on a loan but at its heart is about preying on the most vulnerable, out of greed. A false witness and false weights are both abominations, both about scheming against others, in order to gain advantage for yourself. All these and more are considered-abominations; for they had no part in the original design for this world, they should not exist but we do little to eradicate the ones we identify with, do we?

You see, this has long been a passion for me, it troubles and grieves me, while at the same time gives me a lifeline of hope to hang on to. Some have thought I am talking about hypocrisy when I bring up the subject but it is really more about being disconnected. There seems to be a disconnection between the world we say we would like to have, the kind of place we all want to live in “someday” and the world we are willing to actually work for, to bring about. There is a saying at the place my family worships and it is, “it is a good thing to pray for the hungry but even a better thing to make them a sandwich.” We have to be willing to work, to invest time and effort, laughter, tears, passion and devotion, into bringing about a world more in line with how it was originally designed.

There are a lot of things that are abominations in this world, they have no real right to exist. Bigotry and racism have no right to exist and those that espouse them in the name of safety, like they are virtuous goals, need to be completely ignored. Hate and violence are abominations, destroying our world, when they have no place in the natural order. I was about to say that things like- Cancer, have no place in our world, for I have seen it bring unfathomable amounts of grief and hardship upon this world of ours but in my own personal struggle, it has also brought humility and compassion and an empathy for others fighting similar battles, so, there is darkness there but also light, which leads to transformation and transformation is desperately needed in this world.

I myself have often wondered if perhaps I personally, am an abomination, for I have harbored the notion of being a mistake and pondered the reason I exist in this world at all, if I serve any useful purpose? Then I look into the eyes of my children and I know they are no mistake, so therefore, I am no mistake. I was going to close with a poem along those lines, for Father’s Day but that will have to wait until next time.

Let us all set about to the task of bringing about the kind of world we want to live in. Let us be, “the change we want to see.”

Happy Father's Day- to all the men in this world taking the job of being a father seriously and loving every minute of it.