#Aurora, Colorado mass murder: more to come?

The news of the mass shooting-murder last July 20, 2012 that happened during a late-night Batman (a.k.a. "The Dark Night Rises") movie premiere in a theater in Aurora, Colorado may have resounded deeply into American consciousness up to this hour.

But as the Law of Proximity in Journalism may have put it, this fateful event may not dug deeply to create a national discussion among Filipinos the same way that the Americans are having right now in their soil.

With the Internet, the news reached us in the Philippines and may have saddened many of us who learned of the horrifying, senseless and premeditated tragedy that brought to 12 the numbers of people killed and dozens wounded.

Immediately after the news of the Colorado massacre have spread, commentaries about gun control, the Columbine mass shooting incident, imitation, and certainty of more shootings where brought up. 

Ang Dating Daan's Bro Eli Soriano have already discussed a similar beastly act after the April 17, 2007 mass murder committed by a South Korean student from the Virginia Tech which cost the lives of 32 and injured another 29 people before killing himself. Meanwhile, the suspect in the Aurora, Colorado killing named James Holmes is still alive and currently facing court hearings.

From Columbine incident to the Colorado shooting, it seems logical to ask why? What could be the motive driving these people to kill people? In the end it falls into a general question of why would some people resort to mass killing of their fellowmen?

James Holmes, the suspect in the Colorado mass shooting.

I also would like to find the answer so I have conducted my own research. During my search, something noticeable strike me: people asking for the whys may have dwindled.

Are we bored to death to seeing or hearing news of mass murder being committed one after another that our feelings of shock have been anesthetized? Or are we ignoring these realities because we want a break from the deluge of negative news circulating not only in the press but now being shared on our social networking timelines? Or that some are distancing already from the realities to live in a dream-like, illusory realities of their own making, just like Holmes' 'temporal illusion'? I may be thinking too much on this, but somehow I am sure some still care.

One thing is certain, this will not be the last and more of the same may resurface anywhere, even just around our neighborhood. What is our hope that we will soon see an end to this? For the Bible-believing among us, we would most certainly agree that a better world is coming soon - the only hope for humanity. Bro Eli has said it best in his blog, to which I quote an excerpt:

All evil will be ended; and evildoers will be paid what is due them, when the Lord of Glory comes in power in that blessed day. After the storm, there is a bright day ahead; and I believe, if you will believe in the Bible, we will all see that day.

Ciao!

Postgraduate studies and life questions

I've been thinking of pursuing a postgraduate education for quite sometime now. But am divided on the whys and hows (add the 'what for'). Or another way to frame it is: what to do with it now that am past my calendar years and all my experiences, outlook, ambitions, and life philosophies of 5,000 days ago have been undergoing tremendous changes each passing moment of my life.

Of course my perspective in life is different than when I was starting my studies. When I was a six-year-old kid, all I want is to finish the race to my elementary years so I can enter high school. The same thought remained with me when I was getting my secondary education - to get out of school and enter college. Although I have silently projected that I will become an astronaut when I grew up, but that dream faded through the years (I realized astronauts are math and science wizards).

What is your dream job? But even after completing college, I am short for answers for this compulsory question. I really can't mine an answer. Is it possible to not have any, even one at least. How about the answer to what is the meaning of being a successful person? That without the drive or ambition one is doomed?

It is not that am becoming blithe of education or studying or of life in general. I am just looking for some convincing reasons about my enrolling in graduate schools and the opportunities I can earn from all the efforts.

Lately I realized that it is one's having a purpose not ambition that should be regarded as more important. To at least have a purpose, an intention how one wishes to spend his life with or without a degree, should be a barometer of one's success. And since I also find spiritual guides vital for my decision-making, I checked what the most educational blogger says about getting an education.

And with renewed insights, I believe some of my life questions will find their answers naturally in due time. I hope for what it's worth, and with God's help, I will soon learn several more answers to my questions.

But for now, I think a postgraduate studies will bring me a new universe to explore where I can meet new friends, have same-minded people to share knowledge with, learn new and deeper meanings of things, work together for a pet project that can be beneficial to other people, and experience school again. It's a thought with infinite possibilities. But making some plans turn into a reality is another story, because sometimes, we must accept that some things happen for a reason.

Fin.