In the midst of this underachieved week, however, I had a great time (and still am) reading one of Jodi Picoult's greatest work of fiction; Nineteen Minutes. Now I can't say I have a particular writer I adore but Jodi comes close. The minute I saw the cover of this book, I was hooked. So I went on to read the synopsis and I was double hooked. Now if you know Jodi's work, you know she has a knack for writing on highly controversial topics, and this is no different. The thing I appreciate most about a writer is when they don't hold back but give you an honest raw writing that you're left wanting more and that definitely describes the work she put into this book. So enough on the free marketing and let me tell you what this book is about (the much I've read). I promise, am going to relate it with something I've been meaning to talk about.Nineteen Minutes is a sad story, let me first say; it gives a new meaning to the word tragedy. It's a story you can be familiar with that has happened a couple of times in real life; I even shared a similar story in one of my posts. In this story, we're introduced to Peter Houghton, your average nerd teenager who seems to have had life rough as it is with years of endless bullying. So he wakes up, one day and decides to "end his misery". Instead he goes to school and shoots down his fellow schoolmates injuring many and killing 10 souls. Yes, as it seems, he was a young man on a revenge mission. You might wonder though how a mere 17 year old could become a monster in literally 19 minutes? Well in fact, the monster in him had been there, it only just got out once the "right" conditions were met. So you can imagine the agony of those parents who lost their kids. How their life had changed in just a matter of minutes. Though if you think of it this way, it took approximately 17 years for these "right" conditions to all come together but only 19 minutes for everything to change forever. And you know the most interesting thing, when he was asked why he did it, he said, the intended target was himself, the others just got in the way.
This took me back to something a friend and I were taking about on good and evil. You see, every one of us is born with sin in us, right? So basically, in us is the ability to be good as well as evil. The only difference is we decide to be good right? So what happens if we stop trying to be good, do we end up like Peter there? Not necessarily. However, everyday we face the decision to do the right thing, and you may say its because we each have a moral compass that guides us on good paths. So you find that even if someone does not believe in God, they can for example, be a good neighbor. However, here comes the tricky bit, who put that good in there? Ha! Did I just crash the evolution theory with one sentence??!! Anyway, am not here to prove or disprove anything, but just to make an observation. And an important one. And that's that we have the ability to choose good instead of evil. It is a war on the soul if you come to think about it, a war that has been going on for ages and will still go on for a very long time, but we can rest assured we don't fight it alone, but that Jesus is fighting it with us and for us.
So back to the book... Peter of course was arrested and charged with ten counts of first degree murder as well as nineteen other counts of attempted first degree murder. Hence began a court trial where the rule of law would determine his fate. You know how they say you're innocent until proven guilty? What if this wasn't the case and you were always assumed guilty until your innocence was proved or disproved? Or what if once you were arrested you were charged and immediately jailed without a court hearing? Wouldn't this be the greatest of injustices? Wouldn't this be overlooking the right that everyone has to receive a fair and just judgment? Let's think of this actually, is it a right or privilege to receive fair judgement? Do we earn this right or are we given this right because we are under the rule of law? I say we don't earn it but we are given this right, and it is given to us because we cannot by any way earn it.The reality is...we are an erring people. We are a guilty bunch. Maybe we have not sinned to the extent of taking a life but we fall short everyday. Can you imagine if we did not have a God who was willing to give us a fair and just trial even if we were clearly guilty. Hasn't this kinda made you see the truth about God's judgment and His love? He isn't an 'evil' God set to judge us and throw us in hell but quite the opposite actually, He is the most loving God. We just need to see it from His perspective once in a while. Because in His eyes, you are not guilty, you are just a lost sheep in need of a Shepherd. He just sees the you He wants you to be. So for as long as it takes, He will wage this war on evil until good eventually prevails. :)
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