Reading this article, despite its attempt at not raising alarm, does cause me to tremble a bit with concern. With so many countries these days building up their store of nuclear weapons, it's not a matter of "if," but of "when" there will be a nuclear fallout— the "apocalypse" everyone is writing movies and video games about these days.
Midway through this article, I began to wonder if I, Jessica Powell, could die in an attack on the masses. Perhaps my body would never be recovered, or the rubble from a destroyed building would bury and tear it beyond recognition. I'm sitting here in a sleepy town, earning my education in a school that recognizes individuality because it can. Yet one day, perhaps I'll be taking the public transit, or crossing the street among tens of people (as they do in New York)... Suddenly, people are screaming and fleeing...the airplanes flying overhead... no, the scene is too graphic for me to even write. Were I to arrive at this event, I would not be an individual then. I'd be a number among thousands, millions, even.
In the 9/11 attacks, each of those people was an individual to someone, perhaps many people. But they sat at their desks and worked, living a normal life, keeping the business side of America running. They pushed paperwork and sent emails all day, drinking coffee and wearing business suits colored on the gray scale. They never dreamed they'd die from an inferno, or by plunging to their death from the 110 story tower they worked in.
Goodness, that is enough. I'm glad God has control of everything, but it is crazy to think that disaster upon America could hit at any moment. There is disaster all over the world all the time, even in the silent holocaust that is sweeping away the lives of unborn children.Yet something so pronounced as an attack to a country can send one reeling into thoughts too terrible for such an early moment of the day, or any moment for that matter.
16 December 2010
I know that I read this long after you wrote it, but I am compelled to respond. I keep thinking about this in terms of how we're viewed by the Lord--He sees us as individuals, and values us individually. I wonder why we can't do the same...and I have to admit: it's because we focus on self. I do...I have many times over. It's the most difficult thing to do, to be like Jesus. In John 21, Jesus give Peter the ominous task of doing what HE did: "feel my sheep." What He told Peter was to continue doing exactly what He did--putting others before Himself. What grips me is that the way Jesus lived is the way He died. I often wonder if martyrdom would be difficult; and then I realize that a living sacrifice requires much more...
ReplyDeleteJust a thought.
- Ruiz