Get High On Life

Published 12:00 am Saturday, March 10, 2001

Understanding todays kids takes a true Christians love

Jesus loves the little children. It’s easy to get innocent little children to love Jesus. The Bible teaches that for us to enter Heaven we must become like little children. Jesus warns people who offend little children that it would be better for them if a millstone were tied around their neck and they were cast into the sea. That sounds like pretty strong punishment, but the older I get the more I realize the punishment fits the crime of destroying the innocence of a child. A few years ago, because of the epidemic of teen-age pregnancies, the issue was children having children. In the case of one-parent families, or two-parent families where both parents worked, another issue was children raising children and children growing up alone. Today, and especially this week, the nation’s attention is on children killing children. Monday, in Santee, Calif., Charles Andrew Williams, a frail-looking 15-year-old, opened fire, killing two students and wounding 11 students and two adults at Santana High School. As the police escorted him in handcuffs to a patrol car, he looked even younger that 15. He appeared to be a clean-cut, young students who could have been a poster boy for a Christian poster, advertising a choir group. Why? What happened? The national media, school officials, politicians and parents are looking for an explanation. What could possibly be the reason? Let’s look at the life of Charles Williams. According to the news media he is a product of divorced parents and lives with his father, was forced to relocate across the U.S., dabbled with drugs and loves heavy-metal music. He is the kid many other kids picked on because of his appearance. (This is no excuse for his actions.) According to friends, he was a funny kid, sweet-faced, fond of pranks, good with words and able to make people laugh easily. (Sounds pretty normal to me.) They agreed that he got picked on, but not much more than any other teen-ager in a world where adolescent cruelty is a norm. Adolescent cruelty a norm? That really got my attention. Then I realized how true that statement is. Not only cruelly exhibited by his peers, but also living in a cruel environment. This generation has produced some young people who are very angry. Many see no hope for the good life. Who is to blame? I think we can all share a little of the blame. Charles Andrew Williams grew up in a society that has compromised most of God’s principles for the happy life. We’ve accepted divorce as a legal matter. Commitment to one’s spouse is not important. We’ve allowed violence and sex to be piped into our living rooms and bedrooms. People have become insensitive to death. We’ve surrendered to the war on drugs. Abortion is legal. All of these are contributing factors, but the biggest enemy is selfishness and apathy on our part. We are mostly concerned about our own little world. My heart went out to Charles Andrew Williams when I saw him on television. Unlike other young people who were guilty of past school killings, I was more sorry for Charles than mad at him. I guess the reason is that my anger was directed more to a society that robbed Charles Andrew Williams of his childhood innocence. Yes, Jesus loves the little children. However, as He sees their world today, I’m reminded of the shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35) HAROLD KELLER writes this column as part of his affiliation with the Get High on Life religious motivational group. Call him at 652-8477.