Elliot Rodger

A name that flashed on the scene this past week… chances are that in a few weeks his name will be forgotten by all but his family.  If you are not familiar with the story – it happened in California.   He went on a rampage that killed 6 people, then shot himself. Basically because he felt snubbed by girls and the “obnoxious brutes” (as he called them).

He posted at least 22 YouTube videos. He wrote in his manifesto that he uploaded most of his videos in the week leading up to April 26, when he originally planned to carry out his attacks. He postponed his plan after catching a cold. "On the week leading up to date I set for the Day of Retribution, I uploaded several videos onto YouTube in order to express my views and feelings to the world, though I don't plan on uploading my ultimate video until minutes before the attack, because on that video I will talk about exactly why I’m doing this," Rodger wrote.In the final video posted Friday, he sits in a black BMW in sunset light and appears to be acting out scripted lines and planned laughs. "I'll take great pleasure in slaughtering all of you," the son of a Hollywood director who worked on "The Hunger Games" says.(the above paragraph is from FOX News)

 Rodger’s father is a film director associate with “The Hunger Games” – the young man apparently had wealth because he is sitting in a very nice black BMW at the age of 22. Was Elliot mentally ill? Most would say yes, but honestly we, the general public, won’t know for sure. His family says he was under the care of a therapist. I watched the last video that he posted on YouTube before they took all of his videos down. It was disturbing both in what he said and the pleasure with which he said it. In my personal opinion, based solely on what I saw in the video (and I am not mental health professional) is that yes he did have a mental problem.

But that isn’t what this post is about, it’s not about him…. It’s about us. We never know what a person has or is going through. We pass people on the street in our daily life and it never crosses our minds that their life could be devastated, it could be falling apart.  These nameless faces could be in a sea of pain yet we can’t of don’t see it. I wonder if this young man’s trajectory been altered by the kindness of smile, an encouraging word, a pat on the back by a friend. I’m not saying that it would have fixed his mental illness, but how often has someone said something to me that changed my day, impacted my heart and lifted my spirit…This young man had money, he seemed to be a nice looking young man, according to society he had a lot going for him. But none of that mattered. If you had listened to his words in the video you would have heard one HUGE resounding need… relationship. Yes, in the video he speaks of sex and girls and virginity (by the way – being 22 and still having your virginity is NOT a bad thing – it’s a very honorable thing). The bottom line was I heard a young man who didn’t feel loved, and this is not a knock on his parents, but every person needs to know love from someone who isn’t “required” to love them.

 God created us as relational beings – first to have a relationship with Him and then to have relationships with others. These relationships NEED TO BE unconditional for if they are not they are not genuine nor are they fulfilling. In Mark 12:30-31

“…and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

There is nothing greater, there is nothing more satisfying than to know that you are loved…

The Black Eyed Peas have a great song that gets to me every time – “Where Is The Love” – take a moment later on to listen to the words. 

Anyway; today, this week, every day this week would you take a moment to be genuine with someone? Say HI to a sad face. Ask someone to lunch. Send an encouraging email or card. Take time to have a relationship, even a momentary one with a person that you run into. You may never know that you might have changed the course of their life by your act of kindness (and don’t make it random).