Brian would preach forgiveness
Saturday January 30th 2010, 10:03 pm
Filed under: Friends,Life

The teachers and administrators did a marvelous job of teaching about upholding freedom of speech and of the values of America while teaching the children how to cope with being hated without a cause. I read today of another poster being held up by dozens at the high school: “There is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its hope and its endurance. Love will never come to an end.”

As for the protestors, telling–a child!–whom you know nothing about except that she lives in California that you are actively wishing for her violent death–that is absolutely, unless there is serious mental illness involved, the essence of evil.

Perhaps that explains it.

At Stanford, a bagpiper played an emotional “Amazing Grace.” Forgive.

Well done.  Brian Taylor would have forgiven them.  It certainly doesn’t come easy, it requires honest prayer for their souls and my own; I’m working on it.

Speaking of Brian.  His funeral was today. His uncle spoke of their worries and grief as his schizophrenia got rapidly worse–and yet he was everybody’s favorite patient, a sweet soul, so much so that a doctor who’d tried hard to save him flew from LA to be with the family today.

Last Saturday, the uncle’s daughter had woken up from a vivid dream of Brian coming for a visit, seeing her, being absolutely radiant and telling her with joy, “I’m all better now.”

There was so much love in that dream and the experience so intense that she told her father over breakfast and they rejoiced in it, hoping and praying it meant there had been some breakthrough with the medications at last.

And then the phone rang…

They will always have the memory of that sense of joy that came first.  The God of love granted them comfort to last a lifetime in the hours between Brian’s death and when they knew.

“There is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its hope and its endurance. Love will never come to an end.”


15 Comments so far
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I truly believe in life after death, having had the opportunity to speak to my Heavenly Father when I died during surgery, so I believe Brian visited her in her dream to comfort her so she could tell his loved ones that he would be fine and happy again. I pray that Brian’s family and friends are finding strength and comfort.

Comment by Jody M 01.31.10 @ 8:06 am

amen

Comment by Janet Kelley 01.31.10 @ 8:18 am

Alison, raising their children to believe and shout such hate-filled messages is also evil. The love and goodness from Brian’s family and your community outshines all that wackiness.

I was listening to a BBCRadio4 Sunday prayer program this morning, and a Rabbi, discussing the Holocaust, mentioned how evil comes from disconnecting from others. I thought of that particular sect/cult (which I do believe is based not too far from where my parents now live, in “the Bible Belt”)

Peace.

Comment by LynnM 01.31.10 @ 8:35 am

I am sorry for the tragedy. I am shocked by the maliciousness displayed by those hateful people. WHY? What is the point? Is it the old “push others down so you feel higher than them” problem? Or is it just plain nastiness? Whatever the reason, ‘us vs them” is the basis for most of the nasty that happens in the world, be it religion, nationalistic pride or some other identifier. I disapprove. I fail to see how that kind of negative behaviour improves anything or anyone.

Comment by Carol 01.31.10 @ 8:48 am

I hope that Brian’s story may help someone else to find healing.

Comment by Diana Troldahl 01.31.10 @ 8:52 am

I Corinthians was the reading at church this morning–“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.”

Clanging cymbals indeed. And truly it will never do them any good, but the love your community showed in response will be returned to you tenfold. God knows what he’s about.

Comment by Lanafactrix 01.31.10 @ 11:17 am

I feel very badly for Brian and for the people who treated him. Such a well-loved young man with a diagnosis that can feel devastating. If you can’t trust your own mind, it’s difficult to make your way through life.

Comment by RobinM 01.31.10 @ 11:52 am

Your other commenters have said it all! In the final analysis “Love will never come to an end,” says it all. Well, I can add this. It has been pointed out that “evil” is “live” backwards. These dissenters are certainly living backwards!

Something funny to get rid of the bad taste of these … these … backwards:

Just wondering —
Remember those cartoons showing cannibals boiling someone in those great big pots? Ever wonder where they got the pots?

Ever wonder why men get bald on the tops of their heads but not on their faces? You didn’t?

Comment by Don Meyer 01.31.10 @ 12:04 pm

the dream was true – Brian is all better now – all of our pain and all of our anguish is gone when we finally get home

Comment by rho 01.31.10 @ 6:09 pm

We’ve already discussed dreams as communication… AMEN to what rho said.

Comment by Channon 01.31.10 @ 7:51 pm

I remember the first time I saw one of their “protests” at a funeral of a gay man who had died from an attack, basically celebrating the tragedy. I could not believe it; all I could do was shake my head at the screen and say, “Couldn’t you find something kinder to do today?” Amen to the comments above on the reality of God’s power of love.

Comment by Marian Stoddard 01.31.10 @ 9:54 pm

I love that statement: love will never come to an end!

It is something I needed to be reminded of. Thank you!

Comment by Suzanne in Mtl 02.01.10 @ 8:15 am

It is especially evil to rejoice over a death caused by mental illness. My child is wrestling right now with depression and anxiety. It is crippling her and causing her to question her value and purpose in life. I am terrified for her future right now, which makes me read your recent postings with heighten sensitivity.

Reading about these protesters who see the suicide of troubled and ill children as some sort of divine punishment makes me wonder what god they worship. How can they be so insensitive to others’ pain? It smacks of idolatry: they worship a god of their own making, created out of selective reading of the Bible. This is neither the God of the Old Testament nor the New, but a false god of their own creation. And the Bible has plenty to say about those who worship false gods. The God I find in the Bible and my own church is a loving God; his will is clear, but not always easy to follow. And he always, ALWAYS challenges us to grow in order to emulate him. Where in the Bible did Jesus preach hate to children? Where did he add to another’s pain?

Sorry to rant so long. This hit a nerve. You’re a good person Alison, even though I don’t know you, you sooth me just to read your love-filled posts.

Comment by shadylady1216 02.01.10 @ 9:13 am

And again, blessed be.

Comment by twinsetellen 02.01.10 @ 6:34 pm

I’ve been sick over the weekend and missed reading your blog till today, 2/2. I feel that God is wise enough to show himself to individuals in a way that they can see and understand him. As a result, I’ve always had a problem with people who perceive their path as the only path.
Also, I wrote to you last week about my own family losses. My elderly mother had a particularly difficult time dealing with the loss of my brother. It took the heart out of her. As I was speeding to the hospital to see her when she took an abrupt turn for the worse two days before she was due to be discharged, I suddenly saw her in my mind’s eye as she had been as a young woman, her head tossed back, laughing and saying”Mein Junge, mein Junge!” which translates as, “My boy, my boy!” I took my foot off the gas pedal, as I knew she was gone and had already gained some of the peace that she just learned my brother had gained earlier. I believe it made both losses somehow easier for me, too. Mysterious ways, indeed.

Comment by Kayten 02.02.10 @ 5:34 pm



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