A Time for Conversion and Prayer

Waukesha, Wisconsin Christmas Parade, Nov. 2021

The citizens in a small town gathered to celebrate the coming Advent in the town’s streets, watching family and friends in the parade march, dance, and play music. It was a time of coming together in joy. Little did they know how quickly their lives were about to change, and not only theirs but millions of Americans as we viewed a man plowing into the crowd, mowing people down with his SUV.

We were horrified as the news stations played the video loop again and again; our minds unable to change the outcome that was certain. In the coming days, the news loop changed from the carnage to a courtroom scene of a man bowed down and in handcuffs, sitting with his public defender who places her arm around his shoulders as she speaks to him. For days this scene played in my mind as I contemplated how someone could grant such a reassuring touch to a man so heartless. Could I offer such a gesture?

Darrell Brooks

My thoughts turn toward the suspect, Darrell Brooks. We are told he was recently out on bail and he had a criminal record including much violence for the past 20 years. He had been in jail for having run down his child’s mother with the same SUV and was released on a $1000.00 bond just hours before the deadly incident at the parade. We were and are horrified and rightfully so that any human being could be so cruel. Six innocent people died and dozens more severely injured. The ripple effect of this one man’s actions is far-reaching, well beyond the borders of a little Wisconsin town.

What happened in this one man’s childhood which so damaged his heart, soul, and the part of our brains that tell us bringing harm to others is cruel? Although I am curious about his clearly sad history it is not in order to excuse his behavior.

I wonder at times if our most impoverished communities are beyond conversion. These communities are not just poor monetarily but they also have a poverty of morals and Godly teaching. However, in my heart of hearts, I can’t believe these people, especially those in the prison system are beyond reach. As I prayed over this, and for Mr. Brooks, my thoughts turn to others in our community who are in the public eye for other reasons and the problems are much deeper and darker than appearances give us.

 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24).

Mr. Brooks may not seem to us remorseful but we don’t know what is happening in his broken mind. He is at his absolute lowest. If he received no love in his life, he is now despised by a shocked public. Can we imagine being lower than this? Yet this is the way that Jesus meets us when we have nothing and no one else. This is the place I was at almost 30 years ago. This is the place where I asked God to take the reins after living a life of destruction.

As I’ve written about before, I’ve had two abortions. I was in a low place. It is there, after years of internal struggle where God met me. It’s there where He meets all of us. We rarely call on Him when we think we’ve got our lives and the lives of others under control.

Those in Power

So, I pray for Mr. Brooks but there are others that I am even more concerned about, people who I believe have more culpability than he. Those others are people who are in power and control, and who have bank accounts the likes of which I’ll never see. Those who may have been born with the proverbial silver spoon and have no abusive upbringing that we know of to excuse them. They want us to depend on them; trust them as they take more and more, leaving so many impoverished.

Do the actions of those in power horrify us as much as those of Darrell Brooks? They should. They live in a false illusion that they are on top of their game and wrongly tell the public, the Church, and the faithful to support their ideals.

Darrell Brooks has forever changed the lives of so very many souls. He will answer for his actions to God. Will politicians repent and receive the Christ Child before it’s too late and they find themselves before the Just King?

We Are On The Cusp

The Supreme Court has heard opening arguments on a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks gestation. This hearing could overturn Roe vs Wade; something we’ve been praying, longing, and fighting for since it came into being. We need to be praying for the justices along with every politician and every citizen to know the truth and be converted. If we win this battle it will not be the last. We have over 50 years of so much damage done whether it be it the loss of over 62 million babies, their parent’s broken hearts and souls, or generations of people who believe we have the right to kill citizens in the womb. Time to roll up our spiritual sleeves more now than ever.

This Advent, I pray for my enemies to make room in their hearts. I pray for them with the same zeal I had for my own soul when I was on the brink of Hell. At the point where I was so many years ago and yet someone prayed for me. The time is running short. The time of the King will be here sooner than we know. Pray for those most in need of God’s mercy…especially those who don’t think they are in need.

“Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Your Mercy.”