Scarred

I'm sure many of you have heard some tibit of information on the LAX shooting that took place yesterday. Two people killed, one a TSA agent, and seven injured. A lone gunman with 150 rounds clipped into his semi-automatic rifle. Just walked in, aimed, and fired in to hordes of innocent people, completely clueless on what was about to ensue. It reminds me of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 stage, "No Russian", where Makarov, a few of his buddies, and the player (as an undercover agent) walk in to a crowded airport and open fire. The game gives you the option to skip the level, due to material people may find distasteful or offensive. As you walk through the level your counterparts spray bullets in to the masses, and you stand there, jaw on the floor, tears in your eyes, taking part in the massacre that Makarov had created. This sounds horrible, no? It was. But Infinity Ward created tastefully, to not seem like there's no point in human life. The game is not the point I'm trying to make here. It's the thought process of a homocidal mind. How does one, no matter how excruciatingly horrible their life has been, make a concious decision to walk into a room and kill innocents. Kill a father of three children. A young boy, just remembering the fun he had at school. A teenage girl, sitting an laughing with her friends as they peruse social media sites and recalling good times together. I cannot fathom it. Just the mere thought of taking a life of someone else, ending a time span before it is due, puts tears in my eyes and softens my heart. Then there are the consequences of being there. Not even being the gunman, but seeing him rip through living beings with no reserve. It takes a toll on your mind. I always think to myself that in a situation like that, "I'd be cool. I'd take cover, and find a way to take him down." Then my logical mind smacks me around saying, "What's wrong with you! This isn't Call of Duty! You can't respawn! Your wounds won't heal! You. Will. Die." I would be scarred. Imagine being next to one of those two people who died. Watching them die. Knowing there was nothing you could do. When you went to bed that night your mind would repeat it over and over in slow motion. That memory would have been burned in to your brain and never leave. Scarred.

Maybe there's something supernatural about what he did. Maybe it wasn't concious. Maybe Satan himself entered that man to destroy many lives. Maybe not even supernatural yet still unexplainable. Mental illness is a very real thing that has unknown effects on one person to the next. Nevertheless, I pray for those involved in that shooting. That The Lord may give them peace. I ask that you do the same.