Boston Bombing

Boston Bombing

The Boston marathon bombing awakened us all Americans. Three people were killed, among whom was an eight year old kid who was watching innocently to encourage his father running in the hoping to run himself someday also, and more than 300 other people critically injured and wounded. Two pressure cooker bombs installed with sophisticated triggering devices exploded in the middle of the spectators, while the marathon was in progress. Two suspects were hunted down and resulted in one killed and the other captured alive but gun-shot wounded. The whole Boston city was paralyzed by the acts of these two men. The citizens were trembling in fear inside their home forced to follow the order of the authority.

After the capture, terrorized citizens came out sheepishly to streets still suspecting their freedom regained, waved the Stars and the Stripes, and sang the Star Spangled Banner. Soon afterward, the suspect in the hospital bed read Miranda right even before being asked any information that might be useful for the national security. What is the real story of the Boston terrorism? We have no way of knowing it, unless the media report to us honestly. Terrorists were in our backyard. We feel that America is not safer than before. America is in the dark.

How would God see all this? Apparently motivated by conflicting interests are two opposite views on this incident in the Government, in the two parties, in the nation, and in the world. The varying interests will change in time and place. But it is the moment of the truth to show whether the leaders work for themselves or American people.

God tells us to love one another. We should love our enemy. So is said. But what about justice? God is just. Justice should be done on the terrorist. God confuses us, but the Government confuses us even more by keeping us in darkness. Is justice incompatible with love? The notions of love and justice are not clear anymore, because they are all perverted. Sexual love and fair share for example had made our heads spin in dizziness. We became foolish. Then, let me reiterate the same question: Is perfect justice incompatible with perfect love? The answer is resoundingly, ‘No, they are compatible,’ because perfect justice is perfect love – they converge to each other. God is the justice and the love everlasting.

The injured victims now have to suffer every moment in the hospital for no good reason, when the opposite camps are in vain pointing fingers at each other in false effort to vindicate themselves. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ Cain once said. We are all descendants of Cain. We cannot hide our faces with our bloody fingers before God. Let us bury the hatchet of political and ideological interests to reestablish our trust in God in this land. Let the love and justice prevail. (April 26, 2013, KYP)

Bread

Bread

 

When the History Channel broadcasted last month in a series “The Bible”, a Christian story starting from the Genesis and ending in Revelation, audience watched with great interest and praise with diverse reactions. Among others, caught my eyes one scene which I am about to talk: Then was Jesus led of the Spirit into the wilderness (of Judea) to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry. And when the tempter (in a black wardrobe) came to him, he said, If you be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

 

We know the rest of the story as late Paul Harvey used to say. Turning stone into bread is a presumptuous proposition. Jesus was challenged of His divinity by the tempter with the stupid proposition. Jesus needed not to prove who He is, but had let him find for himself.

 

The tempter might have come with Plan B on the same subject of bread, before he moved to the other two temptations. Plan B could have gone like this: The tempter said, “Jesus, you look terrible. How could you stand without eating for 40 days and 40 nights. Perhaps, you had at least some water from a stream down the valley. Listen! There is oven-baked fresh bread plentiful left over by those greedy rich in Jerusalem, which is not very far from here. I have the world’s swiftest hovercraft with me. I can fly to steal the bread and bring here to feed you so that your hunger pain would turn into pleasure in satiation, if you just say ‘yes’ on my vote.”

 

Talking about the Plan B, there is a different Plan B called the morning after pill. An innocent young girl made a mistake on a night. Since we are so concerned about her otherwise bright future, we have to save her from a potential trouble. So even under 17, she is to have access to the Plan B without any restriction, though the long term side effect of taking the pill in underage has not as yet been determined. But this is a health issue of the next generation. In the meantime, pharmaceutical companies will have a boon to flourish, while we debate who is going to pay the bill. This is getting complicated with no promontory in sight.

 

It is in essence the issue of morality. If we took morality out of our society, our society would start to crumble quickly. For it is the glue that binds us together, morality requires us not to be careless, but to be responsible. Therefore, in response to the tempter, Jesus answered and said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (April 6, 2013, KYP)