Boom!

Some act as if violence is only an incidental facet of human personality and like a light switch, we can turn it on or off, depending on our needs or whims. Not so. Violence is a pervasive spirit that touches and affects everything we do and everything we are. It is a spirit loose in the world and like the genie that escapes, it cannot be crammed back into the bottle where we can keep it out of sight and out of mind. Violence captivates, thrills, and fascinates us, and it starts beguiling us early in life, often when we hear our first boom and watch the first victim fall. Having the power to dominate others is fascinating and addictive. It gives us a thrill even if we are just pretending.—America and Its Guns: A Theological Expose, page 43

<idle musing>
Boom! and you're addicted. It's too true—and only the power of the Holy Spirit can set us free. But, before we can be set free, we have to want to be set free—no, scratch that. We have to realize that we aren't free! And, again, that is by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Even so, come Lord Jesus! Come and set your people free!
</idle musing>