Virginia woman accused of ramming into another car, stabbing driver in road rage incident
‘Terrified': Mother, daughter say man sideswiped them before 495 stabbing rampage
The world has gone crazy. Iryna Karutska is stabbed to death on a Charlotte, North Carolina subway (ironically it was a "blue" line train). Her murder shocked the whole country. This kind of thing is getting to be a daily headline. But usually it's far away from me.
Not now! The violence came to my old neighborhood a few days ago with the murder of Stephanie Minter at a bus stop in Fairfax County near where I used to live. Apparently a random attack, the 41-year-old mom died, like Iryna, almost immediately.
But that's not the end of the stabbing violence. In the past week we had two road rage stabbings in the area. Two people were stabbed to death on the Beltway in Northern Virginia. The murderer was shot and killed by police when he turned on them brandishing his knife. I travelled that route hundreds if not thousands of times when I lived in Fairfax County. I doubt I'll ever make that trip around the Beltway without thinking about the killings.
Another less lethal road rage stabbing happened in Fredericksburg a few days ago where one of my daughters lived for a time. All of these incidents form a dismal picture of culture in the 21st century. We're in Jurassic Park where the raptors wear human faces.
What is going on, we all might ask. How can it be possible that this country, often heralded as the city on the hill by talking heads like Sean Hannity, sink to such barbarism?
What comes to my mind is the conversation Pope Leo XIII heard between God and Satan when God allowed the demons to do their worst for 100 years. Like the situation with poor Job, God allows the testing of His people. Does that mean He's an evil God who hates us and plays with our lives? Of course not! But the Bible is filled with moments of testing. That's when we need to turn to God as our rock, fortress, and strength. And call on St. Michael the Archangel to defend us in battle.
The Israelites were tested in the desert and they responded with grumbling and infidelity. Over and over God gave them miracles displaying His tremendous love for them and they responded with rebellion and infidelity. The result was that a trip that should have taken a few weeks took forty years with most of that wicked, grumbling generation dying in the desert and never seeing the promised land.
So what's God doing?
I only know one thing. Nothing, absolutely nothing "just happens." Events are either the result of God's positive will or His permissive will. I repeat, nothing "just happens." But how do we make sense out of these horrible events? I'm not sure we can. Sometimes all we can do is trust God, Who sees everything, knows everything, and loves us to the point of sending His Son to die for us as a criminal.
Does that sound insane? Perhaps to some people who pat themselves on the back when things go well and blame God when they don't. People often put their trust in doctors, counselors, trainers, crystals, superstitions, and even the weather man! (Foolish, foolish people.) But God, Who has every hair on our heads counted, often gets short shrift. For me, the answer to all this is Joshua's promise: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." and Job's testament, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." He knows what He's doing even when I don't. And that's okay.
The answer to these insane, random acts of violence is not to despair, and it certainly isn't the world's response, i.e., banning knives. We need to pray and increase our trust in God who brings good out of even the most evil situations. But that's not enough. Our country needs conversion! The stabbings mirror the murder of millions of little babies in the womb, some stabbed in the neck before having their brains sucked out. Evil laws sowed the wind and we are reaping the whirlwind. Without conversion, it is only likely to get worse.
We may never understand why God allows all this evil until Judgment Day. We may never see the good that He brings about because of the demonic sins that plague us. Nevertheless discouragement and despair can never be our response.
I invite you to join me in praying these psalms of hope:
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me? Hope thou in God, for I will still give praise to him : the salvation of my countenance, and my God. [Psalm 42:11]
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord. [Psalm 31:24]
My soul longs for your salvation; I put my hope in your word. [Psalm 119:81]
Let us persevere in patience and prayer, especially praying for all those victims of violence, their killers, and the police who are so frequently exposed to these horrible situations and have the stressful duty of informing families. My brother was a police officer and he spoke more than once about the pain of informing families whose loved ones met such horrific ends.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
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