It seemed for awhile that the world was going to end today.  I was grabbing a snack in a restaurant when the verdict in the Casey Anthony murder trial was announced.  You could hear audible sighs when the first three responses were not guilty.  No one there could believe what they were hearing.  It was almost like a group seeing their favorite team suffer an unexpected defeat.  My facebook page exploded as people posted their horror at the acquittal.  At least three out of four new posts were directed at the judgement of the jury.  I just spent some time reading news sites as they try to unravel the events of the day.  No one can fully express how the verdicts went directly opposed to the predictions.  Those of us who remember the Simpson trial can identify with the emotions of a proceeding that went contrary to expectations.

Let me admit to not being caught up in the hysteria of the last few weeks.  The entire story is a tragic one to me.  A little girl is dead which seems unfair on so many levels.  Her mother did not report her missing for a month which is beyond me.  Now we may see the accused walk away from this in two days.  Our attention was almost demanded by the media who analyzed every moment of the trial.  Something horribly went wrong in all of this.  Most of the country waited for this day to see the mother get her sentence but now most feel robbed of this satisfaction.  I am no expert in our legal system but we do place our faith in the jury system in our land.  Maybe we will one day learn how they reached their decision.  Until then, we are forced to look at ourselves for better or worse.

Ours is a reality television society.  Brains are turned to mush with the abundance of programs that feed our interest in the worst of people.  Casey Anthony fits that description perfectly.  We may never know for sure whether or not she indeed killed her daughter.  Her behavior during all of this ugliness only draws our focus to the worst of humanity.  We want justice for an innocent little girl.  But we were reminded that abuse and violence is not limited to tabloid headlines.  Even our own corner of the Bible belt is not immune from the outrageous.  Young children are subjected daily to horrors for which there is little recovery.  We tend to live in denial unless a case demands we notice such a lifestyle.  Our tendency tends to be vile anger without ever thinking about how crimes like this occur.  How often do we ask if we are actively making a difference in our world so these occasions are less and not more?

Too often church becomes about managing the mundane rather than carrying out its commission.  You hear people talk about wanting the young to be part of the congregation but to do so without the inherent messes that arise.  Usually what this means is we want children to never misbehave nor make any messes.  No one can really touch the lives of others without it being a tad messy.  Teenagers live in a world that seems like another planet compared to most of us.  Somewhere along the way we lost contact with what the world is really like rather than what we wish it to be.  Caylee Anthony is not a rare case any longer.  Children of all ages live with threats that would disturb our sleep if we were aware.  I cannot say whether or not her mother is guilty of murder.  My concern is whether or not the church of today is guilty of denial of the multitude of dangers faced by children everywhere.  Jesus told the disciples to allow the young to come to Him.  My guess is that He would still say that.  But what would we be doing in response?

Bro. Trey