Reacting to Gunshots Heard

 2“Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, 3and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, 4then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. 5Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. 6But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’ (Ezekiel 33) 

As I am writing this, an active shooter is reported at Columbiana Centre Mall about 15 minutes away- a place I have been to many times.  The place is being evacuated now- which is quite a task with over 80 stores.  It seems to be an isolated incident between two parties at this point.  But we have trained ourselves correctly so that if we hear gunshots then we should evacuate if possible.

Almost the same time that the report came in of an active shooter, the major networks were declaring Donald Trump won the South Carolina G.O.P. Primary, which in itself is a type of "shot heard round the world."  Trump's triumph is a signal of a perception for a need for a major shakeup in our country and its economy.  There seem to be a lot of powder kegs ready to be lit all around the world- North Korea, Iran, Syria, Lybia, The ISIS captured territory and more.  The votes for Trump (and somewhat for Bernie Sanders) appears to be a vote for a radical change of direction from both the Republican and Democrat status quo.

We should always listen to the warnings.  Listen to the shots- the trumpet sounds that tell us something is wrong.  In fact, part of our job (described in Ezekiel 33) is to warn people when we see danger.  Ben Carson said in his concession speech we cannot continue down the same path for it leads off the cliff.  However, if we warn people and they continue on the path that leads to the cliff, then that is their issue.  Our job is to listen and to warn.