Op Ed: Connect-T-Cut

Connect-T-Cut

by Philip Smith "Rus"/webmaster, Conservatives Of The Upstate

Yesterday, tragic news gripped the country as 20 year old, Adam Lanza entered a Newtown, Connecticut elementary school and gunned down 20 children and 6 adults and then apparently shot himself.

Whenever I hear the state name "Connecticut", I think of when I was the age most of the children that were murdered yesterday. When my older brother and I would play Monopoly© - he always called the last light blue property "Connect-T-Cut". If he got all the properties in any group, he'd say every time that the property "wins the game".

"You know Rus, Connect-T-Cut wins the game."

Many parents see me walking home from school with my son every day. I volunteer a good bit at the school too. I am very blessed to know so many children by first and last name ... I'm thinking of all the kids I know and that I high five and point to and smile at everyday at the school.

They call me "Mr. Rus", "Cameron's Dad", "Mr. Smith" ... I can imagine there's someone like me in Newtown, Connecticut that just lost 20 friends who never judged them, who loved them without really knowing them, and was friends of their parents.

I take comfort in knowing the innocence of a young soul is an immediate and rejoiced line break at the gates of heaven and that a possessed/disturbed soul takes the hell express.

The scariest part of the shooting to me is that there are some very unstable people walking among us. Some people seem to be filled with hatred, but go freely about quoting the Bible or pretending to be a friend to some of us, yet they are on a hair trigger all the time.

Law enforcement & townspeople seem rather unconcerned about the unstable among us. I honestly think governments and law enforcement (not by force or punishment) could stem a lot of this by taking the threat of an unstable person more seriously and by building better relationships with everyone they touch and know.

As with any case, there were signs this was going to happen. Rarely does someone snap the 1st time or the 10th time ~ violently, like this.

Some of us assign this to God's will or God's judgement on a non-believing nation, it is my belief that God had no part of this incident.

1 Peter 5:8

"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

God's will is comfort in times like this.

Some of us don't know what to think about the lives of these children being cut short by such an event and are afraid this is a sign of the end.

John 14:27

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

A convicted heart can understand most anything. As a Christian, I choose to focus on understanding what is revealed to me and seek knowledge about things that will advance my understanding of my friend's and family's tomorrow. We aren't necessarily meant to understand everything here on this earth, rather we are asked to focus our understanding on the relationship with our Father in heaven.

John 3:8

"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

James 1:5

"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."

I feel comfort in knowing that MY faith is solid and intact - it is the one thing I truly CAN take with me.

Comfort to me is knowing that this could have happened 10/20/30 years ago to me ~ even in a much better world.

While I certainly believe God had no part in taking these children away from us, I know for certain it is only by his grace that I remain here today and will exist tomorrow.

John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."