In spite of the title, this is not a universal truth. However, it was a recurring statement in Sunday school this week. The teacher asked a question that I was thinking about asking two weeks before, "Why are you here?" Apparently it was part of the Bishop's Youth Council (BYC) recently too. They collected the answers and told everybody they had great reasons for being there and that what really mattered was that they were where they were supposed to be.
I kept my mouth shut.
The answer I was thinking of the week before was that I was there to learn something, but it is more than that. The processes of learning and seeking truth cleans and focuses the lens through which we see the world. The collective effort means that I can get answers from others that have already found them and also ... hopefully ... be kept from excessive false doctrine while getting peer reinforcement.
The Lord works in mysterious ways. We all know of the people who have gone to church for "the wrong reasons" and been converted by the spirit while there. I know I have been touched by the spirit more than once when I was there just because I was supposed to be. This happens. However, when we are there for the right reasons, the Lord's ways need not be mysterious. They can be direct and powerful. We can get even more out of Sacrament meeting and all our other meetings if we know why we are there and are there for the right reasons.
Will we always be there for the right reasons? I know I am not. I can say that having two little girls mostly keeps me out of my meetings when I don't have the right reasons. It is such a struggle to get there, that I often don't make it if my heart is not already in the right place. So, sometimes I forget to appreciate the individuals who did not make it for "the right reasons".
It was a good lesson for me.
I would like to shift gears now and look at criminals. The reasons don't matter why one person decided to kill a bunch of people. Every so often we hear of some mass murder or serial killer. Politicos, reporters and various busy bodies get to talking about why they did it. The latest one was last Friday. Some people are using it to advertise gun control. Others want it to change women's rights or something... I really am not clear what they expect to get out of it but just that they are trying to take advantage of the tragedy.
The truth is that it doesn't really matter why one person decided to become a mass murderer. If your loved one got killed in the horrific event, I am certain that you would want to know why in order to gain some sort of closure. However, reasons like revenge don't relieve remorse nor wrongs done. To think otherwise is to lie to yourself.
When a car engine blows up, engineers ask why so that they can prevent future issues with more ... engineering. People aren't like that. A massive scientific and technological leap forward might require a deeper conversation, but I will leave that alone since we can't read minds or psychologically engineer people in spite of the efforts of various charismatic and military leaders.
God can sort out the reasons. For the rest of us it is left to deal with the results.
I am not saying that justice should be blind to circumstance. Self defense is far different than first degree murder, and mostly distinguished by the reasons. I do not envy any judge or jury that has to wade into that murky water.
However, no matter what this latest villan's reasons are ... it will not change the facts of what was done. And all the people who are using it to satisfy their own twisted curiosity or advance their own agenda will not succeed in hindering nor changing the mind of the next person who is inclined to do something similar.