Keep the Faith and Live for Freedom

There's a reason why our government does not negotiate with terrorists.  Time and time again it has been proven that by opening negotiations you tell them that their behavior has gotten your attention and you have no leverage.  You validate and legitimize their cause.  You become as the old mountain man used to say,  "Beholden" to them.  You can't reason with an illogical, or unreasonable person.  Evil has existed through the ages and it will continue to rear its ugly head.  It is not going away.  We can't tell ourselves, or our children that it will never happen again!  It will.  It may take a different form, but rest assured it will happen again.  Don't believe me?  Let me illustrate with a personal example.

In mid-September of 1989,  I was working at WHAS radio in Louisville, while in seminary.  Our studios and newsroom were housed along with our sister TV station WHAS, next to the Standard Gravure, a massive printing house where the Louisville Courier Journal Magazine was printed.  An employee,  47-year old, Joseph Wesbecker was on disability for mental illness.  At 8:30 a.m., armed with several assault weapons he walked into the plant and killed eight people and wounded 12 others before killing himself.  These were co-workers.

His arsenal included an: AK47 type of rifle; Sig Sauer 9mm pistol; 2 MAC-11's (a machine-gun type pistol); .38 revolver; a bayonet; and several hundred rounds of ammunition.  Wesbacker calmly walked through the plant shooting employees and vendors like he was shooting targets at a gun range.  He shot about 40 rounds, stopping to reload a magazine during the attack.  I will never forget that day as long as I live.  It made a huge impact and impression on the first responders, and local news media on the scene.

Life changed at our radio & television station after Wesbecker's act of terror next door.  Armed security guards, locked doors, video cameras and ID badges became standard.  Our previously relaxed atmosphere was justifiably replaced with one of uneasiness, heightened awareness and elevated caution.  Personal vehicles were no longer allowed to park inside the fenced parking lot near the building, which meant those of us working weekends had to give up that privilege and park on the street.

Most of us were numb to the unfolding story after years of covering crimes and other tragic stories.   Experts say it's a natural coping mechanism that medical professionals, police, fire, soldiers, reporters, and others exposed to constant negativity develop in order to survive.   Something kicks in and you emotionally divorce yourself from the event as much as you can in order to do your job.  It's hard to explain since you don't intentionally try to separate yourself.  You just have to do it so you can do your job.  And our job was to tell the story of an unstable man who calmly and deliberately killed innocent people before taking his own life.

I worked that tragic day.  It was supposed to be a producer gig that ended after morning rush hour.  However, since the crime occurred toward the end of my shift it turned into an all day stretch as we needed every available body on hand to splice and dub tape, write copy, produce, do interviews and report.  I remember driving home that evening and feeling absolutely numb.  There was nothing left inside me.  I pulled into our garage off the back alley and cried like a baby inside the car.  When I walked into the house I couldn't wait to hug our 6-year old son and my wife.  I desperately wanted to be with them and to experience some sense of normalcy.  They were trying to adjust to a new city, church, job, school, house and life as family members of a "second-career" student.  So we had yet to settle into a routine, which made it more difficult.

Fortunately, the last thing I wanted to do was watch or listen to more news coverage that had gone national before noon.  Remember this was before the Internet and social media so news was confined to the network stations, radio and newspapers.  I had lived that horrific story over and over with every newscast so I was drowning in a cesspool of insanity.  Mental health professionals have since discovered that a steady diet of constant media coverage of natural disasters and tragedies is not healthy.  They also know how important it is to return to a "normal" routine.  Familiarity breeds comfort.  And comfort is a good thing in such times.

We instinctively focused on our family and faith without fixating on the story and being glued to the television.  It enabled us to channel our empathy and mercy for the victims in healthy ways while providing emotional stability for our young family.  Our city and world were shaken, but deep within we knew that no matter how bad it was we could not surrender to the tyranny of fear by second-guessing, panicking, or isolating ourselves behind closed doors.  We chose to live.  To profess hope and exercise our faith in God and humanity.  The Standard Gravure shooting took place ten years before Columbine!  And there have been 31 school shootings since then.  I would've never dreamed it would happen again, and again, and again, and again.  

There's an old saying, "If you want to grow grass you've got to plant seeds."  We, who by the grace of God are left unscathed, or behind these incredulous events must choose to live.  It is the best way to honor those who have fallen.  By choosing to live and invest ourselves in the moment while helping those who are struggling we refuse to let evil rule the day and rob us of our hopes and dreams.  I am not saying we don't mourn, grieve and struggle.  And I am not saying this is easy.  In fact it's more difficult and courageous to dig deep, invest, plant and look to the future.  It can't be done without faith.  Joseph, Job and Jeremiah all leaned into faith despite the depraved indifference of humanity and hand of evil.  We must choose faith, forge ahead and hold those tight who can't.  We must not leave them, but remind them that they are not alone.  When we exercise faith, we declare hope and freedom is not destroyed.  Paul said, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom."