Sometimes, when I read the local paper, I am overwhelmed by the violence, by the screams and by the left over cries of loved ones struggling with their grief…
I mean it can be a brutal read. Take one recent Friday. The lead story was about Luke Hankey, a popular 24 yr old surfer from Bateau Bay. Luke was in the carpark of the local bar, when a fight erupted involving up to 25 males. When it was over, Luke was laying in a pool of blood, dying right there on the asphalt.
On the same page there was another story about a man from Wyong – aged 35 who murdered his 25 yr old partner, during a domestic dispute. In his rage he stabbed her several times.
A couple of pages on, there was the story of police being called to a house in Umina Beach. Following an argument with his wife, a 37 yr old man, dragged an LPG gas bottle & a jerry can full of petrol into the house. He was feeling so overwhelmed that he was threatening to blow himself up. His wife escaped with their two girls but it took the police another eight hours to talk the guy around.
A few minutes later, I went looking for news about a murdered toddler I had heard about – Dean Shillingsworth – whose body was found in suitcase in a pond in South Western Sydney. I googled ‘dead boy found in suitcase’ only to find a bigger, more grisly story about five dead newborns babies found in a plastic bag in a cellar in Northern France. A 35 yr old woman admitted giving birth to the babies between 1999 and 2006.
Don’t you get tired of the violence upon violence, the screams and the left over cries of pain ?
It reminds me of what God says to Cain after he murders his brother Abel. He says, “What have you done ? Listen, your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground”. It’s like he is saying the violent actions of men continue screaming out to God – long after they are done.
In God’s reality, actions truly speak louder than words.
