The shooting began at about 1330 (1930 GMT) on Thursday at a personnel and medical centre at Fort Hood – the largest US military base in the world, home to about 40,000 troops.

The commander of the base, Lt Gen Robert Cone, told NBC News that, according to eyewitnesses, Mr Hasan had shouted the Arabic phrase “Allahu Akbar!” [God is great] before opening fire.

He was shot four times during the attack and is currently being treated in hospital under armed guard.

Reports suggested that he had been increasingly unhappy in the military and that his work at his previous post – Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC – had been the subject of concern.

The New York Times said the FBI had been investigating internet postings by a man called Nidal Hasan that appeared to back suicide bombings – but said it was not clear whether it was the suspect.

How can we respond to such acts of terrible violence? Recently, Gary, a young man with a family living in Canada, faced an attack of his own: A package bomb left on the back steps of his home. Not knowing what the package was, he picked it up, and it exploded in his hands. Read Gary’s story of his survival, and how he was able to respond to an act of senseless violence.

If you are grieving or dealing with disappointment or despair, please contact us today to talk about it, we’re always here to listen.

Image credit: Daniel Greene, used with permission, Creative Commons 2.0 License.

Christ tells us that they will. He predicts spiritual bailouts, ecological turmoil, and worldwide persecution. Yet in the midst of it all, he contends bravery is still an option. (Matthew 24:4-14)

Things are going to get bad, really bad, before they get better. And when conditions worsen, “See to it that you are not alarmed” (Matthew 24:6). Jesus chose a stout term for alarmed that he used on no other occasion. It means “to wail, to cry aloud,” as if Jesus counseled the disciples, “Don’t freak out when bad stuff happens.”

“See to it…” Bosses and teachers are known to use that phrase. “See to it that you fill out the reports.” Or “Your essay is due tomorrow. See to it that you finish your work.” The words call for additional attention, special focus, extra resolve. Isn’t this what Christ is asking of us? In this dangerous day, on this Faberge’-fragile globe, with financial collapse on the news and terrorists on the loose, we have every reason to retreat into bunkers of dread and woe.

But Christ says to us, “See to it that you are not alarmed” (NIV)
“Keep your head and don’t panic” (MSG)
“See that you are not troubled” (NKJV)

And remember: “All these [challenging times] are the beginning of birth pains” (Matthew 24:8), and birth pangs aren’t all bad. (Easy for me to say.) Birth pains signal the onset of the final push. The doctor assures the mom-to-be, “It’s going to hurt for a time, but it’s going to get better.” Jesus assures us of the same. Global conflicts indicate our date on the maternity calendar. We are in the final hours, just a few pushes from delivery, a few brief ticks of eternity’s clock from the great crowning of creation. A whole new world is coming!

Question: Some news reports say the economy has started to turn around … have you experienced economic “relief”, or are you still waiting?

About this Author: Max Lucado

TheLife.com is now PowerToChange.com!

This site is maintained by TruthMedia, a division on Power to Change. Over the next days and weeks this site, along with several others will be moving into a new format branded as Power to Change.

All of your favorites will still be here along with a bunch of new features we’re excited to share with you. Now all of our audiences will have access to blogs, comments and videos along with more frequent updates, bigger images and a wider range of content.

The Power of Words
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can wound forever. It is amazing what you accept as truth when you hear it enough times. When I became the target of bullying, I transformed from a gregarious child into a silent teenager. I never told anyone was what going on. My life revolved around being as invisible as possible. I figured I couldn’t get hurt if everyone forgot I was there. This is the story that saved my life. Read more

Take action: How do society’s expectations influence our self-esteem and self-image? To understand these issues better, explore our online interactive life lesson Understanding Beauty.

Blog: I Wasn’t Ready to be a Grandma!
Joan Giesbrecht didn’t feel ready to be a grandparent when her daughter became pregnant at age 18. Read her story to hear how she overcame her initial anxiety and trepidation and was able to find joy in her situation. Read more

Online study: Understanding Pain and Disaster
We all know about tragedy which affects family or friends. Why does such tragedy strike? Where is God in all of this? Take this online interactive study and gain insight in the crisis situations of life. Read more

Coming up next week: Join us in the chat room daily for discussions about relevant life topics, or just to hang out. See also our full chat calendar for other upcoming topics.

TheLife.com is now PowerToChange.com!

This site is maintained by TruthMedia, a division on Power to Change. Over the next days and weeks this site, along with several others will be moving into a new format branded as Power to Change.

All of your favorites will still be here along with a bunch of new features we’re excited to share with you. Now all of our audiences will have access to blogs, comments and videos along with more frequent updates, bigger images and a wider range of content.

9/11 and You
My sister had a 9:00 a.m. appointment at the World Trade Center … on September 12, 2001. I’ve often wondered what might have happened had her appointment been a day earlier or the terrorist attacks a day later. What were your feelings that tragic day? How do you process those feelings now, as reminders of the attacks come in anniversary media coverage? Nearly two thirds of 9/11 adult counselees still grieve, according to a recent study. Read more

Take action: Do you struggle with forgiving people? Or one person in particular? Why not try our Finding Freedom in Forgiveness online interactive life lesson?

You said it: This week, Kara commented on Four Slippery Steps to Adultery, saying “What a difficult time you must be going through. Is there a way that you could talk with your husband or even get some help to walk through this? This site has mentors who are willing to come alongside you in a time like this.” Read the article and add your own thoughts: Read more

Feature: Back to School Survival Guide
The campus is a new world, and here, it is not the strong but the teachable who survive. Here are some tips for student survival based on the experiences of those who have already survived. Read more

Blog: Identity & Identity Theft
Every year, millions of people around the world, are victims of “identity theft”. Some helpful steps to reduce your chances of being an identity theft victim include things like protecting your credit card numbers and never replying to emails requesting financial information. Read more

Coming up next week: One of the topics of our upcoming online chats is “Why Does God Allow Disaster?” Join us in the chat room September 15th 2009 @ 4:00pm EST for this chat or see also our full chat calendar for other upcoming topics.

On September 12.

Since September 11, 2001, I’ve often wondered what might have happened had her appointment been a day earlier or the terrorist attacks a day later. I could have been walking the streets of New York City with her picture.

What were your feelings that tragic day? Shock? Fear? Anger? Confusion? Sadness? How do you process those feelings now, as reminders of the attacks come in anniversary commemorations and media coverage? Nearly two-thirds of American Red Cross 9/11 adult counselees still grieve, according to a study of those directly affected by the attacks{1}.

“I Hate You!”

In the immediate aftermath, my feelings of sadness blended with intense hostility. Once when Osama Bin Laden’s face appeared on television, I spontaneously shouted, “I hate you!”

I was and am a follower of Jesus. He taught his followers to “love your enemies.”{2} Why was I yelling “I hate you!” to a picture on a TV screen?

I wondered why this guy hated my sister. If Deborah Wright had been among the victims, her death would have been included among those he applauded. If I had been a victim, he would have applauded mine. I wrote a radio series on “Why Radical Muslims Hate You” to discover historical, socio-cultural, political, religious, and psychological roots of such anger. It helped me to connect with Muslims who shared similar concerns but disavowed the radical methods.

Dust of Death

Deborah’s experience as a corporate chaplain took her back to New York to help WTC-based companies and their employees who suffered loss on 9/11 cope with the emotional and spiritual whirlwinds their worlds had become. Many suffered from survivor guilt. Failure to process grief could lead to serious consequences. Some firemen, for instance, were assigned to look after widows of fallen comrades. “There can be enormous intimacy and bonding in shared grief,” Deborah notes. “Some of the firemen and widows ended up in bed together.”

Some competitive, driven businesspersons re-examined their rat race—making big bucks and accumulating the most toys—and asked, “Is that all there is?”. Long looks at corporate culture prompted many to consider spiritual realities.

Part of helping survivors process their experiences involved taking them to Ground Zero. Deborah comments, “As I stood at Ground Zero and picked up the dust, I could not help but think that we were standing in a giant crematorium. The ground seemed hallowed to me.”

Personal Lessons from 9/11

What personal 9/11 lessons persist? Perhaps you can relate to these that seem poignant to me:

We live in a contingent universe. Human decisions and actions have consequences, often for good or evil.

Life is temporary. One early spiritual leader wrote of our lives’ fleeting nature, “You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”{3}

Link with the eternal. Jesus of Nazareth, whom people of diverse spiritual persuasions respect as a great teacher, told a friend grieving her brother’s death, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again. They are given eternal life for believing in me and will never perish.”{4}

Cherish your friends. In the aftermath of 9/11, many friendships were deepened as people linked with each other for encouragement, solace and support.

Understand and love your enemies and intellectual adversaries. Support national defense, but learning about state enemies can help communication with moderates who share some of their convictions. Getting to know neighbors or associates with whom you differ politically, philosophically or spiritually can help build bridges that foster civility in public discourse.

Related reading: Lorraine tells the story of her son, a NYPD officer at Ground Zero on 9/11, and how she began her own search for meaning. Hear Lorraine ’s story.

Notes
1. Amy Westfeldt, “Study: Sept. 11 Survivors Still Grieving,” Associated Press, May 26, 2006, on AOL News. Also see full Red Cross report, http://www.redcross.org/images/pdfs/SRPClientSurvey.pdf, p. v.
2. Matthew 5:44 NASB.
3. James 4:14 NASB.
4. John 11:25 NLT.

© 2006 Rusty Wright, used by permission.

Image credit: Joseph Hoetzl, used with permission, Creative Commons 2.0 License.

Originally written by Charles H. Spurgeon, published in “Mornings & Evenings,” entry for August 5th, AM.

Updated to modern English by Darren Hewer, 2009.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

About some things, believers are absolutely sure. We know, for example, that God sits in the controls of the ship while it navigates the rockiest water. We believe that God’s invisible hand is always on us, and that wherever our world may drift, God is steering it.

This reassuring knowledge should prepare us for everything. We look at the raging water, and see the spirit of Jesus walking the waves. We hear a voice saying, “It is I, be not afraid.” (John 6:20)

We know that God is always wise, and so we are confident that there can be no accidents, no mistakes. Nothing can occur that God is somehow unaware is happening. We can truthfully say, “Even if I lose all I have, it is better that I lose it than have it, if God wills it. The worst calamity is the wisest and the kindest thing that could befall to me if God wills it.” We can say this because “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”

Christians don’t just believe this as a theory, but instead know it as fact. Everything can work for good, such as when dangerous and deadly drugs, mixed in the right proportions, can become a powerful cure. Believing that God rules all, that He governs wisely, and that He brings good out of evil, our hearts will be assured. You and I are enabled to calmly meet each trial as it comes. Christians can, in the spirit of true surrender, pray, “Send me what you will, my God, so long as it comes from You. Never has there come an ill portion from Your table to any of Your children.”

Remember that God has servants everywhere, His method is holy, His heart profoundly kind, and His timing is always perfect.

Question: How can you think of examples of how God has used things in your life for good, even when the situation seemed bleak?

About this Author: Charles Spurgeon

Today the Toronto Star provided a helpful list of questions and answers about Swine Flu:

Q: What can I do to prevent myself from getting the flu?
A: Wash your hands and cough in your sleeve. “If you don’t have access to soap and water, use an alcohol gel,” advises Dr. Richard Besser.

Q: Should I get a seasonal flu shot, and if so why?
A: The seasonal flu shot will not protect against swine flu.

Q: Can you get this swine flu from handling or eating pork products?
A: No. “It is perfectly safe to eat pork because that’s not a means of getting swine flu,” Dr. Andrew Simor says. (Read the rest of the Toronto Star’s Q&As)

One question not addressed by the Toronto Star is how does a person know if they have it? The symptoms are very similar to regular flu symptoms, and include fever, cough, headache, general aches, and fatigue. Others who have swine flu also report nausea, runny nose, sore throat, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Are you worried about Swine Flu? Do you have feelings of fear for yourself and your loved ones? Please feel free to share your concerns with us in the comments section, by contacting us privately, or consider Dr Muriel’s article Why Worry Yourself Sick?

Today the Toronto Star provided a helpful list of questions and answers about Swine Flu:

Q: What can I do to prevent myself from getting the flu?
A: Wash your hands and cough in your sleeve. “If you don’t have access to soap and water, use an alcohol gel,” advises Dr. Richard Besser.

Q: Should I get a seasonal flu shot, and if so why?
A: The seasonal flu shot will not protect against swine flu.

Q: Can you get this swine flu from handling or eating pork products?
A: No. “It is perfectly safe to eat pork because that’s not a means of getting swine flu,” Dr. Andrew Simor says. (Read the rest of the Toronto Star’s Q&As)

One question not addressed by the Toronto Star is how does a person know if they have it? The symptoms are very similar to regular flu symptoms, and include fever, cough, headache, general aches, and fatigue. Others who have swine flu also report nausea, runny nose, sore throat, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Are you worried about Swine Flu? Do you have feelings of fear for yourself and your loved ones? Please feel free to share your concerns with us in the comments section, by contacting us privately, or exploring our collection of resources for dealing with difficult and stressful times.

It’s hard for me to even mentally grasp that amount of money. For the sake of comparison, $800 billion would be enough to build approximately 12 million Habitat for Humanity homes.

What would use you such an incomprehensible amount of money to do?

The intent of the stimulus is to fix the economy. But right now what the average citizen needs most is the assurance of hope. The President has “warned that the nation’s economic crisis could become a “catastrophe” if the government does not act quickly on a plan to create jobs and revive the economy.” What if the stimulus fails? Where will our hope be?

A story of hope, “Facing AIDS with Hope“, was written some time ago about relief work in South Africa. Its message may be worth considering during difficult times of our own.

Fires in Australia have erased entire towns.

As fires smoldered and sometimes raged across sections of the scarred landscape Tuesday, rescue officials in Victoria attempted to offer solace to hundreds burned out of their homes and frustrated at being unable to return…

… Weekend bushfires “completely wiped out” the towns of Marysville and Kinglake, officials said. More than 20 fires were burning Tuesday, according to the Country Fire Authority.

Frustration also brewed as residents desperately wanted to return to their homes, or what was left of them, but were prevented by authorities because of safety concerns. (CNN.com)

How do you think the world can help those affected by this disaster?

Video, photos and eye-witness accounts of the firestorm.
Starting over after loss
Can you find peace in troubled times?