A Soul Without Light

Alice C. Linsley


Twenty-year old Adam Lanza was a soul in utter darkness. When he was very young he was as innocent as the children he murdered. Perhaps the light began to diminish when he stole something for the first time. Did his mother look the other way? It diminished further when he lied and nobody corrected him. It dimmed again when he began to believe his own lies. It became very dim when he cursed the Good and embraced the Evil. It was completely extinguished when he killed his mother at their home and then opened fire on 5 and 6 year old children before killing himself.

The FBI is interviewing Lanza’s relatives in an attempt to discover a motive for the massacre. We would like to think that there was a rational reason for this rampage, some excuse other than darkness and evil.

On Saturday night, grief-stricken residents gathered at a Catholic church in Newton, Connecticut in memory of those killed. A priest of the parish had been the first to inform some of the parents about their loss. One of the girls was to have been an angel in the upcoming Christmas pageant.

Twenty-six candles flickered in the sanctuary as hundreds of mourners filled the church. During the service, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy said, "Many of us today and in the coming days will rely on what we have been taught and what we believe, that there is faith for a reason."

Indeed the true Faith brings light into the soul. Misplaced faith, on the other hand, only brings more darkness.

Governor Malloy said, "Evil visited this community today." He is right.