Revelation 21: 3 - 5 NKJV
We'd been told ahead of time that time would stop for one minute that day. Well, not stop literally but in a sense yes time would stop. For one minute, a city would stop...and remember. It was on Friday, May 26th that a self proclaimed free speech advocate by the name of Jeremy Christian took it upon himself to take the lifes of two others on the MAX train he was riding here in Portland. In the space of less than five minutes, two young lives were cut short while another hung in the balance. It's been well documented here in the Northwest that this was a hate crime against two other female passengers who were riding the same train as the attacker. Indeed, he had at some point focused his attention to these two women who were simply tring to get home. However, in my opinion what more of a hate crime is there than to take another persons life? One moment is all it took for Jeremy Christian to reach for the knife which he was carrying. One moment was all it took for him to commit the highest of crimes, spilling the blood of three others in the name of his hatred filled ideology. I'm suddenly reminded of others with similar beliefs who took it upon themselves to rid this world of those who they saw as inferior to themselves. Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stailn and Pol Pot come to mind. Each of these men had taken it upon themselves to rid the world of others. I thought alot before drawing a similarity between these hated killers and the man who had just murdered two others, but as far as his beliefs go, I see no difference. History will remember Jeremy Christian more for the two lives that he cut short rather than the message of hate which he daily sought to spread. Yes, he was big on free speech rights and he all too often exercised his own. Still, it's not this message which will be remembered each year on the aniversery of the attacks. It's not his message of hate by which two families will struggle to remember the loss of a loved one.
13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow hwe will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
James 4: 13 - 14 NKJV
In the course of my day I'm usually required to visit the Hollywood transit center a few times each day. I haven't been there for a few days now. I passed through there the Monday after the attacks, but I didn't linger too long. I haven't returned since. At some point I'll need to go back. However, it's still too soon for that. Not only are there crowds paying their respects for those who lost their lives, but I truly believe that events such as this leave their mark on an area. Those who fought in World War two will hold with reverance places such as Tarawa, Dunkirk and the forrests of the Ardennes. In the same way, we hold cities like Oklahoma City, Waco and New York City close to our hearts due to the events which happened there. We've already been told that a memorial will be erected at some point at the Hollywood transit center. I'm all for it. I see it not only as a place to remember the lost lives, but that in the end there are things that are worth standing up for. That Friday, three men stood up to the hate of one man. Two of them never returned home that day.
So it is that each year on May 26th I'll pause one moment to remember. Alot can happen in one moment. In one moment a mother can tell her child she loves him. In one moment a man can make a desicion which will affect hundreds of others for a lifetime. In one moment...we remember those who fell.
~Scott~
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