Heart Of Darkness

Amanda Berry has escaped ten years of very real Hell on earth (I find it interesting that the other three girls are less frequently mentioned by comparison.)  The media is in frenzy mode with the story. The neighbors and those who assisted in her release are having their fifteen minutes of fame.  The media is trying to make a story where there is none about the police not doing their job.  Just another day in America.

It sickens me.  I can’t even begin to imagine the horror of these female’s existence for the last ten years, but what surprises me is that no one is talking about the fact that the disgusting, twisted human being who did this was a school bus driver in daily supervisory contact and control with children.  How did that happen?  How did we miss who this man was and what he was for so long?  How did those close to him not know the life he led and say something?

This guy apparently was very sociable and spent time out and about on the town dancing with women, playing his guitar and singing in clubs.  He was liked enough to be referred to as a “regular guy.”  So why does behavior like this occur in someone who apparently has that much going for him?  I remember that Ted Bundy was often referred to as the kind of guy “you would never expect to do this kind of thing” -- sociable, well liked, but with a heart of evil, cruel self-centeredness beyond anyone’s imagining.  I sure don’t have a clue why we don’t recognize these people, but I do think that evil like this starts out looking harmless and fun.  I suspect if you met Satan himself walking down Main Street he would be handsome, sociable and well liked, and what he would offer you would be temptingly beautiful at first glance.

I believe mental illness is treatable and the result of many causes, but I also believe that our fallen nature of “self first” is often at the heart of many “anti-social” behavior problems.  God designed us to function in relation to Him and others.  Satan’s design is to have us function in relation to ourselves and our own desires.  Corruption of those desires to reach excesses such as what happened to Amanda Berry are the result of a complete self-centered approach to living.  Ted Bundy spoke at length about how he became the monster that he was just before he was executed.  He blamed much of it on the effects of pornography, but the truth of the matter is that he let his will and soul be taken over by the heart of selfishness that is Satan’s prime personality.  Amanda Berry’s keeper was playing God with her.  He wanted to be in complete control of his ready-made worshippers.

Me first!  I want to be God!  I want to do whatever I want to do!  That kind of thinking leads to what we are witnessing in Ohio now.  We need to be in proper relationship with God.  WE can’t be trusted with that kind of personal power.  Only God can.