No Fear or Awe for the Austin Bomber
The Austin bomber must be reading or watching the news. When the second victim was also black, some called the bomber a white supremacist and hoped the victims would rest in “power.” But the next victims weren’t black. And as police urged people to avoid packages not sent from a reputable mailing organization, the next bombing happened at a FedEx site. It feels like a fatal game is being played.
Police have noted the sophistication of the devices, and I suppose the bomber, who, again, I am sure is paying attention to the news, is pleased to have such praise.
But I am not going to offer praise to him or her.
Instead, I would like to praise God for the gifts He gives to each of the beautiful people He has made. There is one to whom He gave mechanical and electrical talent. He gave a great deal of intelligence to one. I praise God for those gifts. I pray with sorrow that one, to whom gifts were given to glorify God and benefit people, is using the gifts for harm.
So, I offer praise to God and not to the bomber.
I would also not like to give the bomber my fear. So, I place into God’s hands my life and the lives of the ones I love – my family, the people I know and all the people of Central Texas. Life and death will be for God’s glory. Let Him be praised.
Today, I offer a prayer for the bomber’s repentance and conversion. Let the wounds that led to violence, hatred and needing an unholy attention be brought to healing. I pray for the wisdom, protection and success of the police. I pray for all who work with parcels because I can only imagine how afraid they are right now. And I pray for the people of Central Texas.
I pray we can grow in love for each other, watching out for each other and that we can increase in unity. Not offering awe or fear to what is evil, let us offer love to each other and praise to God instead.