{"id":114,"date":"2007-04-19T11:38:00","date_gmt":"2007-04-19T17:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michellevanloon.com\/main\/?p=114"},"modified":"2007-04-19T11:38:00","modified_gmt":"2007-04-19T17:38:00","slug":"lonely-boy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2007\/04\/lonely-boy\/","title":{"rendered":"Lonely Boy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

As the news about what was going on inside the heart of VT shooter Cho Seung-Hui broke yesterday, followed with information about how others had perceived him throughout his formative years (to sum up \u2013 either invisible or really weird), it struck me that there are a lot of Chos walking around this planet.<\/p>\n

There are few of us so damaged and demonized that we\u2019ll go out and buy a gun and write a ranting manifesto that channels odd Biblical\/literary references, rage at the capitalist system and Columbine. But the evil soundtrack that looped in Chos soul is background music for a lot of people.<\/p>\n

Cho Seung-Hui, apparently, was a strange, troubled, quiet kid. People either ignored him or used him as the butt of their jokes. How many of us have been where Cho has been \u2013 strange, quiet kids who\u2019ve been ignored or teased? Or worse, abused?
\"\"<\/a>
I remember what it was like to be the weird new kid at a new school in 8th grade. At first I was ignored by all the other insecure kids, who\u2019d already formed their middle school survival cliques. I was clumsy and didn\u2019t feel very attractive (long straight blonde hair parted down the middle was the style, OK?) and somehow, had been tagged with the nickname \u201cMonkey\u201d from the 7th graders on our new block. I reacted negatively the first couple of times they tried the name out, which meant I was branded with that horrible name for the rest of the year. I can still barely type the word \u201cMonkey\u201d without a rush of shame and adrenaline.<\/p>\n

That pain opened the door in my life to promiscuity (what better way to make some friends than to give some of myself away? Plus, maybe I wouldn\u2019t feel so ugly if someone wanted me even for a few minutes). Other things that entered through that open door were suicidal thoughts, drug use, a complete disengagement academically. Not one good thing came into my soul as a result of being first ignored then teased.<\/p>\n

And though most of us probably can point to some time or other in our lives when being ignored and being teased has happened to us, most of us try to make sure that we never have to feel like that ever, ever, ever again. Which means that if there\u2019s a weird, invisible guy like Cho in our lives, we tend to keep our distance so none of that weirdness ever splashes us.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

I love the way that Jesus wants to march right in there and connect with the Chos of the world, which is all of us, without Him. This is why He came:<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord\u2019s favor.\u201d (Luke 4:18-19)
<\/span><\/em>
Without Christ, I am capable of opening the same door to evil, rage and despair that Cho did. Without Christ, I am completely focused on self-preservation instead of pouring my life into the lives of those around me \u2013 which include a few people moving in the wrong direction on the Cho continuum. Even in Christ, I love me too much.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Join me today in praying the above Scripture for yourself and for all of those Christ-followers you know who need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to march into darkness and preach good news to the poor, freedom to the prisoners, sight to the blind, release for the oppressed, and God\u2019s favor.<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the news about what was going on inside the heart of VT shooter Cho Seung-Hui broke yesterday, followed with information about how others had perceived him throughout his formative years (to sum up \u2013 either invisible or really weird), it struck me that there are a lot of Chos walking around this planet. There […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1449,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nLonely Boy - Pilgrim's Road Trip<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As the news about what was going on inside the heart of VT shooter Cho Seung-Hui broke yesterday, followed with information about how others had perceived\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2007\/04\/lonely-boy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lonely Boy - Pilgrim's Road Trip\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As the news about what was going on inside the heart of VT shooter Cho Seung-Hui broke yesterday, followed with information about how others had perceived\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2007\/04\/lonely-boy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pilgrim's Road Trip\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-04-19T17:38:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.newham.gov.uk\/NR\/rdonlyres\/7C4425DF-84AE-47C0-8DCC-16E2C5F1448A\/0\/Depressed_Man_small.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michelle Van Loon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michelle Van Loon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2007\/04\/lonely-boy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2007\/04\/lonely-boy\/\",\"name\":\"Lonely Boy - 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