As most of you may know, a very tragic event occurred in Roseland, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) today. I sat in the office today wondering what everyone was upset about and why my best friend said she was crying watching a video. What the heck had happened? What could it be now? The world is in such turmoil that I couldn't even fathom what it might be. Even after all of the horrible things I thought, none compared to what it actually was. A young man was killed today after school. His name was Derrion Albert. He was literally beaten to death! People, what is going on in this world? How did we ever get to this point? YES, he was in an area where bad things may happen more than some other places; TRUE, everyone has to die sometime; YEAH everyone makes mistakes, but does that make this acceptable? I can't even explain the pain I feel for this poor child's family. He's someone's son, cousin, grandchild, etc and he was just literally beaten to death. His grandfather couldn't even stand to watch the video because it was so difficult to see the way they beat his grandson. This is a child! Someone who had a full life ahead of him and he was robbed of that today. So many older people say, "those were the days" or "you better enjoy your youth while you can", but this poor little boy wasn't given that opportunity. He was an honor student full of potential. You see, to some people that may not mean anything, but to me it means a lot. It means that he was in active pursuit of success. He may have had so many dreams that he wanted to fulfill with his education and he was actually working hard to do so. I'm so angry and sad and confused...
Is it really worth it? Is taking someone's life worth showing the world how "hard" you are? Is it really worth causing the infinite amount of pain to Derrion's family? Does it make you feel better to know that you "ain't no punk"? I find it very hard to believe it's worth it. Everyone in this world has lost someone dear to them. Everyone in this world has suffered some pain at some time, but does that make this acceptable? I couldn't even believe the words I was reading about what happened and it's so much harder to even watch the video, but I did. I watched it for two reasons. First of all, I know that seeing what really happened will open my heart even more with prayer for his family; I've had some tough situations in my past, but I can't even imagine what they must be feeling so I wanted to fully allow myself to get as much in the situation as possible. I know that sounds crazy, but it's not about me. It's about sharing emotion and love and passion with those people that lost someone today and being able to say, "Lord, please keep them in Your care" and really understanding what I'm asking God to do. Secondly, this is a story that needs to be taught. WE need to let everyone that we know that this type of violence and evil is NOT acceptable. This is something that can't just blow away with the wind. He's not a celebrity nor is he a world renowned scholar, but he might have been. We will never know. He may have been just an ordinary citizen who made a difference in the world by spreading love - which would have made him extraordinary - like so many people do now.
As I write this and think about the tears streaming down sad faces right now and hearts that are filled with sorrow and pain, it dawns on me that this happens all too often. There are no reasons for violence. Human nature leads us away from God's perfect will, and that's just what it means to be human. It's impossible for anyone on this Earth to be perfect...but this? We have to stop violence. We have to stop hatred. We have to love one another as we're instructed. As humans, we're going to make mistakes, but that mistake can no longer be taking someone's life. We ALL have to stand against violence! Derrion Albert wasn't able to make it to an age that some of us have already passed because someone decided to take his life today. If the lives of those people were filled with love, this wouldn't be the case right now. Fill yourself with so much love that everyone you encounter is blessed by your presence. Some of you may not agree, but I've already prayed and forgiven the poor souls that caused this horrible tragedy for the family of Derrion Albert. You see, I'm well aware that it's not my place to judge them and hating them only makes me like them. [Matthew 7:1-2;26:28]. It's up to God to handle that situation. I'm in no way saying that it's ok or that I'm not angry because I'm still human, but I don't live this life I have to hate people....I LIVE LIFE TO LOVE
For those of you haven't seen the video, I've embedded it below. I'm not asking you to watch it...I'm simply asking you to pray and don't wait until the next tragedy to pray again. Stay in prayer...
This concludes the Live to LOVE Rundown... God bless...
