Yet there are other humans that wake up dwelling on more sinister thoughts. How to steal from others, how to inflict pain, and maybe even plotting how to destroy people they have never met. I can't imagine what has brought a person to this place, to where their obsession is to cultivate destruction but it is evident that this is not an uncommon mindset. Their motivations are the opposite of pure and sometimes our life intersect with these people when we least expect it . . .
It's 5 a.m. and the traffic is starting to pick-up in downtown Nashville. I-24 is a major highway slicing through the Music City and vehicles start navigating the maze that is common for major cities. As our worker crosses under one of the many overpasses that crisscross the city a horrible crash breaks the early morning hum. A huge piece of concrete, thrown from the overpass, burst through his car's windshield and kills our worker who is guilty of only driving to his workplace. A horrible case of wrong time, wrong place.
There are brutal, senseless deaths each day in our country, children shot and killed as they wait for their school bus, young college students enjoying a break from their studies in a club suddenly running for their lives from a shooter they have never met, wives assaulted by the husbands that have promised to protect them. But this kind of violent act is so unpredictable, so random that it chills the heart and can hijack our imaginations till the end of our days. How can you explain the mindset required to heave a deadly object over a railing in the hopes of hurting someone driving below? What evil is required to be immune to the dreams and the loved ones of the person (or persons) you desire to hurt? How can a soul become so dark, that choosing to inflict violence is your desired motivation before the night retreats from the light?
There will be justice, sometimes here on earth, but there will be justice in the age to come. Our Creator promises that each of us will give an account for everything we do with our lives, good and bad. But what about the evil that seems to stretch beyond the possibility of grace? Even this terrible act, as horrible as it is, can be forgiven by the One who loves us the most. (And yes, my mind reels at the fact that God can forgive such people but if I'm totally honest my life choices would put me on the same side of justice if I got what I deserved.)
The judgement that will be determined by the One that knows all can seem so improbable as we live in this fallen world. But it will arrive. His judgement will be perfect in response to the actions delivered with such violence and deprivation. I pray that day comes soon. I pray for peace for this man's family and friends as they grieve in their loss. And I pray for the person who committed such a senseless act of violence. I pray that they will seek forgiveness from Jesus who alone freed all of us from paying the true price we deserve for our choices in this life.
