"The thief has come only to steal, kill and destroy." (John 10:10)
The following are some simple, sad thoughts of some Hungarian teenagers I teach and upon which I reflected today and came up with this.
'Scattered tombstones sit before me
Empty, yet so full of death-like notions,
And hopelessness---oh they claim to have hope,
But in what?
Nothing permanent----because there is nothing permanent...
Nothing good----because what is good for one isn't for another....
Nothing noble----for that is passe and old-fashioned.
"I want to teach my children to survive in the reality of life today---that's all."
Survival---nothing more.
"To live by the principles of honesty, integrity, doing good to others, helping the less fortunate...it's not realistic in today's world."
Simply coping and surviving----
"I want to teach my kids how to survive and blend in, be accepted and not be an outcast."
Fear has gripped their hearts and they don't even know it---
The thief has come...
Has stolen their dreams...
There's no reason to dream because there are no possibilities...there are no opportunities.
Stolen visions and dreams;
Hopes killed;
Reality of a spiritual world destroyed by the thief.
I finally ask: "And what about faith? What about God?"
With smirks and snickers, "Oh yea, for you and those who believe in something that doesn't exist! I believe in what I see."
Tombstones serve one purpose: to mark the spot where a body once living now lies dead---how gut-wrenching that these teens, who should bubble forth with life, hopes and dreams have chosen instead to park themselves in the cemetary of post-modernity, and encased their minds, spirits, souls and bodies in cold, cement with pithy epitaphs etched across their faces.
So many so deluded and lied to by the one who comes only to steal, kill and destroy, and ironically, they don't even believe in that thief.
"I believe in what I see..."
All of this makes me pause and ask: Followers of Jesus, what have we done? What are we doing?'
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