where?

Where do you even begin?

Where do you begin to pray? How do you thank God for your safety, when many others' lives are in jeopardy and families are frightened because they still don't know? How do you pray for continued safety when service men and women have put themselves-risking their own lives-between good and evil, a barrier between the enemy and the innocent?

How do you mourn for such a tragedy when you weren't the one sitting in the second row with a gun pointed to your head? How do you wish to be of help when help like this doesn't have a price tag, a shopping list, or a quick fix?

How do you look at tragedy--like fires and murder--and begin to deal with all the questions, emotions, and pain that accompany such an event?

I won't begin to imagine what went through the young man's mind, what was going on in his life, or how his mother might feel when she arrives in Aurora today. I won't venture to say that he had a traumatic stress disorder, an extreme addiction to comics, or even a revenge ploy. I won't even say that he doesn't deserve to be prayed for.

The truth is, everyone is need of prayer. Whether you know God and you seek to do good, or whether you are overcome by fear and darkness, you need prayer. I was in a debate this morning over the effects of Hollywood movies and entertainment. They say that the murderer exampled actions of the villain in the movie. They say there is a "theater" crime in the comic book. They say that maybe he was crazy. They say that the young man gave a "psychological disorders" presentation at DU, just last week.

The media is going to tell this story, truthful or not, because we're all curious. They'll work very hard to find the facts and the truth to make us all feel...maybe safer? But the truth of the matter, the truth of every matter, is that we have gotten so far from Eden that we have no idea where we are. Our movies today display unethical matters and we don't even see them. Some of our radios tell us that so many things are okay, and we don't hear it. We have left the place of perfection and gone into a place of confusion and lies.

We do not have to live in fear, that's not what I'm trying to tell you. I'm trying to tell you that people are broken and wounded. Even the healthiest of persons is walking with some kind of sting or scar that tells the tale of something gone wrong. Something has gone wrong here, hasn’t it?

I choose to listen and watch encouragement and light-hearted flicks and music, but that does not mean I don't see the darkness all around me. If we're not seeking something better, if we're not seeking truth, what are we doing? If we're not taking a stand against evil and bad, we're letting it move forward.

Today, I ask you to pray. It doesn't matter what you say or how you say it, just pray for whatever your heart needs today. Pray for others, pray for yourself, just pray. We'll never find our due north unless we start there.