A tragedy happened in our quiet, middle-classed neighborhood. My neighbor was shot and killed in his own home. Awakened by his wife, who heard someone in the driveway, Clay grabbed his gun and opened his bedroom door. Coming face-to face with an intruder, he shouted for the man to get out of his house and shots rang out. Clay fell to the floor, mortally wounded and the burglar left the house.
Clay wasn’t a wild person, living on the edge. He was a 51 year-old, husband, and father, who worked with young people and played sports. He worked hard and had a successful medical practice. Clay’s funeral was held in the Church he and his family attended. It was a celebration of a man whom GOD had blessed. He lived a good life and left behind good memories with his loving wife, six children and friends who will miss him. This tragedy gave us an opportunity to celebrate Clay’s temporary life and the beginning of his eternal life in Heaven.
The wounded burglar made it to his stolen car and tried to escape. He was so high on drugs he couldn’t find his way out of our circle. He stopped at another house and told them he didn’t want to die. He still had the murder weapon on him when the police arrived. If convicted of capital murder, that 18 year old will die by lethal injection or spend the rest of his life in prison.
We didn’t know anything had happened until I read an e-mail from our Neighborhood Watch Coordinator. Neither the shots, the Police or Ambulance had awakened us. It seemed like such a nice day, but the tragedy of that night had left a family without their beloved husband and father. It also left a young man without a future and the pain his family will endure.
My wife reasoned that GOD may have let the young man live because he wasn’t saved. Yes, he still has a chance because “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV). Clay accepted “JESUS’ to gain eternal life. The young man has to face justice for his crime, but still has a chance to find mercy from that same JESUS and join the celebration.
Wayne Lance (2017)