"Make America Great Again." It's the campaign that Trump has been parading around to try and gain supporters. It's a good idea, but what I want to know is who is going to make Americans great again. Who is going to figure out a way to put an end to all the violence, prejudice, hatred and vile sinfulness that pervades every corner of a country that we hold up as great?
Last week, the Stanford swimmer Brock Turner was all over Facebook and the news. He was charged with sexually assaulting a young woman, while she was unconscious. He shows no remorse and has escaped trial with only three months of jail as a punishment. So much for justice. Now, the news is flooding with the reports that Christina Grimmie, a contestant on "The Voice" Season 6, was fatally shot after one of her concerts on June 10, 2016. There is no clear motivation, as of now, for why the shooter decided to walk up to her while she was signing autographs, shoot her, and then kill himself. It's a heartbreaking event that brings to light just how broken our world is.
Christina claimed numerous times to news reporters that she was a Christian and believed in God. It must have been difficult for her family to wait in the hospital while their daughter was in critical care, only to find out she didn't survive. How can the God she loved and believed in allow such horrific things to happen to their baby girl? How can such a talented, loving person just be gone? Simple. This world is broken beyond repair and some days it seems like no one is willing to try and fix it. We focus on fixing the economy and the immigration "issue" and numerous other things, but we aren't fixing anything. We're treating the symptoms, not working to cure the disease. People, and their darkness and hatred, are the problem. Evil that causes a person to shoot someone else for no reason is the problem. We don't need Trump or another president to make America great again. We need a God who can rescue us from our own depravity.
A lot of people are quick to push aside the notion of God. After all, He allows humanity to remain this way, so why trust that He can fix it? Well, I guess that's a valid question, but my counter is this: who else is going to fix it? Humanity has done a bang-up job trying to fix it themselves. Maybe it's time to step aside and start putting trust in someone higher than ourselves. Maybe if we were more willing to try and change individual lives with the love of God, we would see more progress than when we try to change people with our own broken love. Maybe if we started trying to heal the broken people who commit such atrocities, we wouldn't have to open Facebook to see these horrors trending around the world.
I can't imagine what Christina's family is going through today. I can't imagine the horrible pain they're enduring. I like to think that they're trying to find peace with the help of God. I'd also like to think that this tragedy will serve as a wake-up call and show people that there's more wrong with America than the economy. It's a heart issue, and we need to start treating this cancer-like disease that seems to be spreading and destroying our country.
Rest in peace Christina. The angels have gained a beautiful voice, but we'll miss you down here.
