7/13/12

You knew I had to speak. (Children should always, always, always come first.)



Ill winds mark it's fearsome flight, 

And autumn branches creak with fright. 

The landscape turns to ashen crumbs, 

When something wicked this way comes... 



....R. Bradbury....



We all think we can recognize the face of evil. 


We think he’ll be draped in velvety blackness with horns peaking out of his head and eyes that would pierce your heart.  We’re convinced that evil could never infiltrate our lives without our knowledge.  Never, ever.


We’re dead wrong.


Evil is a tricky bastard, concealing himself with a disguise that even those with the purest of hearts wouldn't recognize.   And even when we catch a faint glimpse of evil from behind its mask, we convince ourselves that surely we were wrong.  We hope for all that is good, and expect that others feel in their hearts what we surely feel in ours.

Because we don’t want to believe: we don’t ever, ever want to believe in evil.


But it’s here. 


Evil is always, always here. 


It hides among us in the most unimaginable places and performs equally unimaginable deeds, all while we are carrying on our own business.


The most horrific acts can cripple a person and a family.   But today the horrific acts of one man crippled not only the innocent victims of his evil and their families; but the lives of many, many others of their community,  university and across the nation.


There are no words.


There are no words that excuse the actions of an evil man.



And there are no words that excuse the inaction of men who ignore evil.





I’m pretty sure that’s all I can muster right about now.



Let us pray.





(Keep your eyes open, my friends, because when something wicked this way comes - you’ll never see it coming.)

9 comments:

Sue said...

There are no words for this type of evil, no words at all. Children that needed a "father figure", trusting kids that ended up having their childhood and trust totally stolen from them! There are no words. No words whatsoever, except in prayers for the many victims of this horrific tragedy!

Sue

Sharyn said...

Is it at all helpful or comforting to know that some of us (myself included) have taken this tragedy as a sign to talk explicitly with our kids and our friends who have kids about the possibility and signs of molestation and rape (it's not "sexual assault" -- it's RAPE)? Please -- something positive must come out of this catastrophe, or why do we all go on living?

At the very least, maybe those college students who protested Paterno's firing have now gained some perspective on how the real world works sometimes, and will be better informed and more vigilant when they have their own kids.

Vodka Mom said...

Yes, it IS a comfort to know that parents and kids are talking. And so am I - with MY college girls- and Golden Boy. We HAVE to talk about it- as ugly as it is.


Lessons are always learned the hard way. But I HATE that this one had so very many innocent victims.

sniff. sniff.

Pam Schmidt said...

When a person violates the pure trust that a child innately holds, it crushes the child's entire sense of security. Selfish justifications on the part of the wicked violators are one of worst atrocities that have happened in the history of the world. The violators must suffer for the rest of their lives. It makes no difference whether these violators did the physical assaults or quietly kept this a secret. They all have done terrible things to children. More than just 1 person should be in jail.

R. J. said...

Amen to your last sentence. The wicked look just like everyone else. I grew up in a world where we were taught to be suspicious and cautious which some now call paranoid. It has always served me well.

Japolina said...

I'm so horrified by this story. My hope is that the victims will be able to heal now that it is out in the open


I also hope that people learning about Penn State will come forward if they know about something going on in their community instead of hiding it.

So sad.

Angela said...

Yes, there is evil in this world. And you are right, the inaction of so many people, namely the former president Graham Spanier, Joe Paterno, Mike McQueary, Tim Curley and Gary Schulz and I'm sure there are many more who I hope are haunted and wracked with guilt and nightmares. They are all culpable and guilty. Jay Paterno shame on you for trying to excuse inaction.

What we can learn going forward is to not turn away and pretend we don't see evil. As a mother of two, I do my best to protect my children, but we can't live in a bubble and we need to help each other.

I pray that all the innocent survivors of abuse can heal and find the peace they so richly deserve. Thank you for this post.

Auntie Pam said...

The others were not evil, as you stated in your tag? Is that like the priests and bishops in the Catholic churches who knew about abusive priests, yet sent them to other parishes to abuse other kids, were not evil? Compounded by the holier-than-Jesus facade?

Truly, I am sickened by Paterno apologists. Particularly by guardians of our young children.

Just Words On A Page said...

I am relieved and thankful that you talked about this. I know this was terribly hard for you.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and putting children first.