THE REAL VICTIMS

Being a HUGE football fan, naturally over the past few days I have been following very closely the Steve McNair murder investigation. And while it is a tragedy when any person is shot and killed--especially at such a young age like 36--the one thing that I think is not being focused on is the grieving family is left to deal with the complex questions.

To put it bluntly, while the media is focusing on the humanitarian that Steve McNair was, we shouldn't overlook the fact that the man was killed in the surroundings of an adulteress relationship. In short, McNair thought more about himself and his wants instead of being faithful to his family--especially the four children he left behind.

Now it is not my desire to throw stones at McNair in this post (although you might think otherwise), but it does speak volumes when a man is being praised for helping inner-city youth and starting foundations but no one is thinking about a wife who has to tell her children that daddy is not only dead, but has to tell them how he died!!

How does Mechelle McNair tell her children that daddy was having an affair and was killed by his mistress? Equally, how does she properly grieve in finding out this news at the same time as hearing that her husband of 12 years is dead? And finally, how will this situation affect the psyche of his children towards their father as they grow up to become active members of society?

In short, we must come to the reality that tragedies like this do not stop with the people that were directly involved. But rather, this is a incident that could have lasting effects 20, 30, and maybe 50 years from now with the people who are left behind. In short, the real victims of this tragedy are those who become engulfed in the poison that an incident like this can bring.

So while we pray for the families that are involved in this tragedy, let us also pray for the LORD to specifically heal their hearts from the betrayal and hatred that generally come from these ordeals. Unfortunately, nothing can change what happened but what can be prevented is the spread of the pain and suffering that these families now feel towards their loved ones and those on the other side of the fence.