First off, I am not a news watcher. Too much negative stuff which, in my opinion, taints the reality of life. But, I couldn't help but think to myself yesterday as I was sucked in by some of the news coverage about the Chicago school shooting; "What exactly runs through someone's mind when they reach the point of making a decision to kill people? How do they get from emotionally distressed to take innocent lives?"
Before I go on, I would like to say a prayer to the families and friends of the victims who have been affected by this terrible event. - Dear Lord, please watch over the people affected by the shooting in Chicago. May you find a way to do your work through others in a way that reaches out and provides comfort and peace to those who are lost within the despair of the events in Chicago. May you find your way into their hearts to restore their hope. Help them move through the grief to a better place. May they find Your comfort in a way that gives them the courage to forge ahead. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
So what goes through the mind of a killer? Usually reports indicate the gunman showed innumerable signs of a propensity for violence, like with the Virgina Tech tragedy. But not this time. In Chicago all reports state the gunman had no prior run ins with the law and a clean record. So I ask, "How do you prevent the final stage that compels someone to kill?" The question of prevention is contradictory by nature, a paradox if you will, although prevention appears to be the answer to avoiding future deaths, yet it is also a nearly absurd possibility.
The idea of revenge killings seems to serve up an "answer" as to why, but is a mute point as well. People who kill others because of a disagreement or revenge, albeit wrong, give us a shred of understanding into their actions under the guise 'I can see why they did it'. But these mass killings of innocent people who have nothing specifically attaching them to their killers is baffling to me. In Chicago there was a man who makes a decision, leaving no evidence as to why, to march into a college campus, quietly take the stage in an auditorium and kill people, sobering thought, the gentle approach to killing people. He prepares for the day carefully, throughly, and without any second thought or remorse. He arms himself, packs plenty of ammo to ensure he can accomplish is intended task. Then calmly executes his plan without speaking a word and in deliberate fashion. Only to complete the horror by shooting himself, leaving all the answers to the question, why, to die that day with him.
It is obvious to me that thinking played an integral role in the killers plans. There is nothing "random" about it. Each and every step is methodically planned and carried out with extreme precision. Which brings us full circle and back to the question, "What is a person thinking when they perform such a premeditated action?" How do they get from 'I hate the World' to 'I am going to kill people that represent why I hate the World'? I think therein lies the crux of the issue. Are these mass killings an exercise in gratification that the killer is making the World a better place in their minds? Do they truly believe they are performing some sort of justice? Or do they simply want to inflict pain, that, of which, they themselves feel? Can they actually extract 'gratification' from this act for a brief moment before they take their own life? Or by their very nature find no hope or gratification in anything, thus 'compelling' them to kill? Perhaps a feeling of no hope for anything in their lives to get better is the trigger that incites such heinous acts.
The human mind is such a powerful tool, most often underestimated. We are a product of what we allow our brain to process. Without a doubt a young man who has graduated with honors from the Chicago University must have something in his life that is positive. Sadly he allowed the negative events to poison his brain and yield a hopeless outlook. Of course this an extreme case and isn't meant to suggest that anyone who allows negativity to run their lives will eventually kill people. However, it should shed some light on the not so untrue reality that we all allow ourselves to be sucked in to the unfortunate things we have happening in our lives. We all have as much in our lives, if not more, great things that make our lives special that provide us happy thoughts, than we do negative things. I think if we all practiced training our brains to revert to those good things when things get tough, we would find ourselves back to good times sooner.
Maybe it sounds ridiculous and maybe it sounds simple. Maybe you think I am over generalizing and over simplifying. However, what if it is really that simple? What if we could be happier as a whole with a few simple training exercises for our brain. Is it possible to train your brain to default to good things in our lives when faced with adversity? If you can train your brain to learn mathematics, then you can certainly train it to find the good and positive side to life. This is certainly not suggesting the extreme cases can be 'fixed' with some power of positive thinking propaganda. Extreme cases need extreme solutions; and there lies the paradox. As for the rest of us, we can all enjoy more out of life if we trained ourselves to LOOK for the good and find a way to focus on life's beautiful gifts.
Make the choice to be a happier person and look for the brighter side of life. You will make the World around you a better place. Smile and people will smile back and for those who don't...it is time for them to find the happiness in life.
God Bless those who are suffering through the tough times as a result of Chicago University shooting and may He show you how to find peace in these difficult times.
My Two Cents
Jamie
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