Thriving on other's misfortunes ...

Yet one more tragic story emerged this past week from Galveston, Texas ... that of an infant, only three months old, found dead -- and yes, again abandoned by the killer/s -- at the side of the road by a complete stranger!

ALL of our hearts, thoughts, and prayers went out to this tiny child. We could only imagine his last minutes/seconds of life. We could only hope and pray that God had embraced him in His loving arms before he could feel any pain.

Immediately, of course, a manhunt ensued for the 'alleged' father, one Travis "TJ" Mullis, who was (all of a sudden) nowhere to be found.

Then, yesterday, came the "Breaking News" announcement, followed by a live news conference wherein the Galveston PD, District Attorney, et al, were saying that "TJ" had turned himself in to a police station in Philadelphia, PA, stating that he had something to say about what had happened in Galveston, TX.

I happened to be watching local news on television when it broke to include the live feed.

At first I was fascinated, as I'm sure was almost everyone else, by this story. Then, as the questioning progressed and the news conference went on and on with the Q&A session, I began to get sickened by some of the incessantly probing (and quite intrusive, in my opinion) questions! I turned the TV off.

I had been reminded (hadn't even thought of the event for many many years!) of something that had occurred when I was fulfilling my student-teaching requirements.

It was a long time ago, and my memory might be a little faulty on this. Please make some allowances, if you would.

It seems, I remember vaguely, that an extremely popular young man (a senior in high school) had somehow taken his own life. The manner in which the young man chose to take his own life didn't seem nearly as important to the media (in this case, radio) as the fact that he was 21 years old, and still a senior in high school!

"WHY was he only a senior in high school?" was the seemingly never-ending question. (The answer, I think, was that he had been very ill for a couple of years -- in fact, in the fight of his life for his life. Then, when he WAS able to finally return to finish his high school education, he achieved a great deal of success ... until, of course, he chose to end his life. How tragic!)

The principal had little sympathy for the "Public's right to know", and I heard that he physically kicked (literally!) one reporter out of the door. "Hooray for him!" I say.

My question to YOU is, "Do 'we' thrive on other's misfortunes?"

Are we so insecure in our own lives that we must delve, uninvited, into another's, in order to ensure that our own lives are "better"? MUST we intrude to comfort ourselves? Must we know any and every particular??

I suggest to you that the answer is, "No."