Follow Up: What in the world is going on?!?!?

It seems that my post of the craziness of the world around us stirred up lots of emotions and responses.  If you missed my original post, you can check it out here.

I appreciate the comments on that post because they seemed to so closely echo my own thoughts on the matter. 

Yes, we have become desensitized to violence and crime in our world.  It is on tv, radio, Facebook, everywhere.....but, as long as it doesn't touch us personally, it is easy to push it aside and ignore it.  Just flip the channel or close the page and walk away.

I agree with one commenter that we are not even safe in our own homes.  (In my post, I guess I should have put "safe and secure in our snug homes" in actual quotation marks - as opposed to feeling that you would envision my busy little hands making those "air" quotation marks all over the place as I typed it.)  As evil elements in our society start to expand, none of us is truly safe from random acts of violence.  Even at our own home, in one of the most established and desired neighborhoods in town, we have experienced the nip of criminal activity.  My car, parked not 10 feet from the front porch, was gone through during the night a while back.  Someone must have been searching for money or drugs - they dumped everything out of the glove box and console.  Thank goodness they didn't destroy or vandalize anything - they certainly had the opportunity, if they had so desired!  Even though I accidentally left it unlocked that night, I felt violated and frightened upon finding evidence that someone had been so close to my home, in my car, touching my stuff (even if it was just a bunch of paperwork and cd's)......

I know that throughout the course of history, there has always been crime and corruption in the world.  Look back at some of the horrific events, just in the last century, and that is obvious.  Evil entered the world when Adam and Eve first sinned and left the garden.  And scriptures warn us of the existence of the enemy and the demise of the world.  Are we in the "end times"?  I don't know.....I wouldn't begin to try to make that determination.  I just know we shouldn't have to live in a state of fear - fear of going out into public places, fear of stepping outside with the dogs after dark, fear of coming home to a dark house at night.  Our greatest fear should be that the next generation is not learning the difference between right and wrong in their own homes or by example - as so often seems to be the case!

In this age when news travels so quickly, in this age of lightening fast reporting of these type of events, no one can claim not to realize what is happening.  No more "head in the sand" ignorance can excuse lack of action on the part of society. 

One common thread to remarks about my post is the need for people to take action - even if that action is as simple as hitting our knees!  Our faith calls upon us to believe that God can make a difference in this troubled world around us.  So, there IS something we can do, even though it may feel small and insignificant in the beginning.  The power of prayer is a mighty awesome thing and it is the very least we should be doing. 

I challenge myself, and you, to make an effort to stand in that gap between good and evil and pray for that swing in the pendulum back to Good. 

Believing we can make a difference......