The Man Under The Hood

Just prior to the kickoff at our high school football game last night, the announcer asked for a moment of silence for the deceased and the families affected by the tragedy at Ft. Hood yesterday. I had yet to hear about the event and was clueless to the purpose of the moment.

God bless the souls of the lost, the wounded, and their families. Having experienced something similar in my youth, I can feel for these families. How quickly life can change. It's always perplexing when one decides to take the innocent down with them. These type of events have become way too commonplace these days. We're not numb to it, but we are no longer shocked by it.

This morning on the news, the fact that the murderer was Muslim caught my attention. I immediately thought "Team Red is going to have a field day with this one!". Thirty minutes later in the car commuting to the office, the radio already had Bubba calling in saying that the Houston Ship Channel had cargo boats pulling into port every night with terrorists hidden on board. He went on to say that there are hundreds of them huddled up in hotels planning their next event. Glenn and Sean are going to have a busy day on the radio!

Xenophobia continues to rise at an alarming rate. I would hope that someone would do the research to show that out of the past 20 similar events, none of the gunslingers were Muslims. We might be shocked to find out that many of these murderers claimed Jesus Christ as their Savior. I still predict that the next major event on U.S. soil will be done by a white man with bible in hand.

Zooming out to the larger view, it's troubling to continue to see these events play out in a downward trending mass social mood cycle. As the "tide lowers", some struggle emotionally for survival. Whether it's a lost job or already fragile relationships, the notch moves to the next lower level. As Warren Buffet once said, "When the tide lowers, we'll see who has been skinny dipping.". Of course Mr. Buffet was speaking about financial skinny dipping, but I believe his metaphor can be applied to ones emotional and psychological state.

Scanning the TV channels in the hotel room the other night, I caught the beginning of the movie "Mississippi Burning". This movie is so well done, the acting is superb, and it depicts this true story to a deep level. The fascinating aspect of the story for me is the fact that so many people, black and white, on both sides cowered because of fear. The blacks were too fearful to turn in the white supremacist murderers. The white individuals, who in their heart did not believe in "the cause", were too fearful to go against the majority. In the end, it's the aggressive whites against the brave blacks that make the final stand. Like all conflicts, losers are found on both sides.

As this cycle continues downward, it will be important to know what you believe in. You will be challenged to stand up for what you believe in whatever that is. When you see the cowardly hooded white man on horseback heading down the road, what are you going to do about it?