Ever stop and ponder the question of "Why?"

Yesterday marked a first for me and my family and I'm certain it was a first for other families as well.  Helicopters hovered, police cars zoomed, schools went into a "modified lock-down" and we couldn't go home for a few hours.  Most of you reading this either saw the story on the evening news or were personally inconvenienced by the situation but for those of you who don't know, here's the short version of what took place.

A young man, Justin Smith, attacked his wife and kidnapped their 11month old baby, was believed to be armed and was running through the woods right by our neighborhood.  In the end everyone was alive and basically unharmed but a lot of people experienced a few more heartbeats than normal. 

Aside from the "action" that took place so close to home, this prompted a very simple series of thoughts for me.

"What drives a man to do what this man did?"

"I really don't know, maybe he feels hopeless, or helpless, or angry, or scared, or trapped.  Maybe he has things going on inside him biologically that sent him over the top.  I don't know why he did what he did but I suppose that's not my business."

"What can I do about it?"

"I could pray for the young man.  I could pray for the wife and her son.  I could show them love in a practical way."

"How many others are in similar challenges and struggles?"

"I don't know that either but I do know that this is exactly why God has placed this church here in this place at this time.  We're supposed to love folks; all of them.  Crazy folks, mad folks, dangerous folks, nice folks and the folks that we come in contact with in general.  We're supposed to love ALL of them."

Not that there's been doubt as to why we do what we do, but this certainly helps to sharpen the focus.  Our community needs to encounter the powerful love of Christ AND His loving, caring Church.

Just in case you were wondering, "Why?"