A little more than week ago, the nation was reminded (again!) of how unspeakable evil can erupt, seemingly out of the blue. A small group of worshippers in a small town in Texas had gathered in church. They were probably thinking some of the myriad thoughts that one thinks while in church: Pastor has a very good message… my new  shoes hurt… I wonder if I turned off the coffee pot…I hope we get out in time to be first in the buffet line…. Then, in the next moment, at least a third of those in attendance woke up in Eternity. Another third were physically wounded–some to never have the mobility they had had before. And the other third was traumatized by what they saw and heard to a point that they could never forget. Of course, the whole town (of only 400) would soon be staggering under a sense of loss and bereavement. Once again, the world was to hear the phrase “A deranged gunman.” Heavily armed and ready for combat, a member of that community had walked into the First Baptist Church and opened fire on innocent worshippers, killing people from ages 18 months to 77 years. The whole thing seemed surreal and seemed to occur a propos of nothing.

But, that is an illusion. Evil is always lurking around…in the hearts of humankind. Certainly, violence is more frightening when it is gratuitous, when it is “random,” when there is nothing to justify it–no arguing, no fighting, and no visible threat. Yet, the “evil” was there for a long time in the heart of the gunman. It appears that he had a grudge against his ex-mother-in-law, who attended that church, so he decided to take it out on the whole body of worshippers that Sunday morning. It is obvious to  me that this  lunatic should have been banned from buying a gun of ANY kind; however, I don’t want to get into the politics of it. I want to wax philosophical, or more pointedly, spiritual.

One can only imagine the gunman’s frame of mind or thought process. He obviously felt he had a score to settle with his ex-wife and her family. He had probably nurtured that grievance for a long time, and decided that he had to take revenge. To say he was a bully is a gross understatement. He was the kind of violent coward who prays on women and children. He had attacked his wife and child in the past–charges had been filed against him. Yet, as he was leaving the church on that fateful Sunday, a bystander opened fire on him, and the gunman dropped his weapon and fled. He wasn’t the kind to engage in a fair fight. Fortunately, he was then shot by whom the media are calling “a good Samaritan” and because of his wounds, later committed suicide. God only knows how many lives were spared by his death.

The gunman’s attitude  had been “evil” for a long time. The hatred he had for other human beings had been in his heart for years. And as that hatred and feeling of being ill-treated had grown, so had his gun collection. He had had a lot of time to plan his revenge. How and why desire, time, and circumstance had intersected is a great mystery. What the final catalyst was to make the mass shooter decide on that particular day is unknown. But, the horror is that all of the necessary ingredients of “a perfect storm” came together, and the evil that was in his heart reached fruition: 26 people were murdered…in a church…in a small Texas town…on a sunny Sunday morning.

I don’t want to live my life in fear or to make others fearful, but the truth of the matter is that evil is. Sin exists. Although religious, I believe in common sense measures to combat evil. Certainly, legislation is a necessary tool in curbing violence. Maniacs shouldn’t be allowed to own a gun, period. Gun-control laws will be debated for a long time to come. And security for EVERY PUBLIC PLACE, even churches, will be revisited. As humans, we have to do our part to protect innocents against evil.  Yet, as long as humans are allowed to think freely and choose independently, there will be evil. And from time to time, it will manifest itself. Christ anticipated this phenomenon in the perfect prayer, one line of which says, “…deliver us from evil.”

I pray for the community of this small town. I pray for the bereaved and the heartbroken. I wish I could change the evil that has already befallen them. And I pray that they will be delivered from the  future evil of depression, loneliness, bitterness, and loss of faith.