A Return to God

 July 13, 2024

This evening on July 13, 2024 the former president and leading Republican candidate Donald Trump was having a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania just 40 miles north of Pittsburgh.  A 20 year old male was positioned on a rooftop 130 yards away with an AK47 semi automatic weapon and attempted to assassinate the former president with the bullet grazing his ear. One other person at the rally was tragically shot and killed while another person was injured.  The Secret Service then took the assassin out moments later. 

The political climate for the 2024 election has been heated to say the least but there is no place or justification for violence.  The sad part of this story is that this 20 year old young man from the local area was so sick in the mind that he felt compelled to act in this manner.  A 20 year old with his whole life in front of him decided to not only waste his life but those of innocent strangers. The question is always Why? How are young people so radicalized, delusional, and hopeless at such a young age with so much of life to be lived. So sad, so tragic. 

The answer is a return to God. A return to faith, a return to the Holy Spirit. We as parents don't have to be religious but we do need to have and teach some spiritual foundational principles. We were raised as Christians with principles based on the life and teachings of Jesus. There are others of course. One of the principle tenets of Christianity are the Ten Commandments. A straightforward list on how to live and conduct yourself in daily life. One of them is Thou Shall Not Kill. With the senseless violence that we see in our everyday lives it's easy to become desensitized to the sanctity and preciousness of life.  But we are reminded every time a newborn is welcomed into the world and we celebrate the miraculous gift of life. 

We have a responsibility as parents, citizens, and a society to teach our children and the youth by not only sharing these fundamental principles on how to conduct ourselves on a daily basis but to the best of our ability to be living examples of how to treat each other with dignity despite any differences we may have.We need to walk the walk. As parents, we also must be more proactive in monitoring our children's social media activity. We cannot relinquish our responsibilities as parents and we must talk and interact with our children as they grow into adulthood. They need us!

Jesus taught and preached all over the land while being persecuted throughout his life.  He gave his most important command before he went to the cross, he told his disciples simply,

"To Love One Another As I Have Loved You"

We can disagree, we can argue, we can even fight but we must understand that we are all connected by the divine Holy Spirit that resides within each of us. We are all children of God but sadly many of us are not even aware of this fact.  Let us go out into the world and be a beacon of light times of darkness.

With Love,

Coach K