Veroni's Views

 The facts about the tragic incident at the Lonmin mine in South Africa are still emerging.  According to the ways of the world we live in, these facts will be embroidered on, countered with other facts, falsified, and treated in different ways until we will all only “know” what we want to know, and others will ‘know” differently.

Everybody was right and everybody was wrong.

The police should not have used sharp ammunition – on the other hand, their lives were in danger.  The protesters should not have resorted to violent means to achieve their purposes – on the other hand they had exhausted every other means of persuading their employers that their wages were inadequate.  The employers should have conceded to the claims of the miners – on the other hand they believed the wages were reasonable in light of general economic conditions.

On the fringes of this tragedy there are some role players of whose roles it is difficult to find “on the other hands.”  The “medicine man” who reportedly performed rituals over the miners that made them think they were invincible (on the other hand, he was so steeped in darkness that he did not realize what he was doing?).  Those who are trying to gain politically from the whole fiasco – I’m afraid I cannot find an “on the other hand” other than plain dishonesty and self-centredness.

And beyond these, there are the pundits who are explaining everything in terms that are acceptable to their readers/listeners.  On the other hand they have to make a living somehow, don’t they, never mind if they are speaking the truth.

And then there are those who do not listen to the news, because they are so heavenly  minded that they are no longer interested in what happens here.  To them I want to say on the other hand, this is still God’s world.  You may be so elevated that you do not care any more, but God cares.

Leading up to the tragedy and during the tragic events, there was one who was wrong without any shadow of doubt.  That is the Enemy of all that is good, the Destroyer, the Anti-Christ, Satan, the devil.  We need to recognize that, and realize that he is the one we need to stand against.   

What were the people thinking?  (Were they even thinking?) That is not so important as     

“What is God thinking”?  Of course, it is impossible to know what God is thinking.  Judging from what we know about God, I would say He is deeply saddened.

We read in the Bible of one day (I’m sure there were many more) when Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem.  We also that He looked at the crowds and felt intensely sorry for them, because they were “like sheep without a shepherd.”  And at the grave of Lazarus He  burst into tears out of compassion for the people.

What are you thinking?  If we think of ourselves as devout Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, I would say we should be weeping with those who mourn, and fighting against the forces of evil that are causing havoc among people.