Mirror mirror on the wall.

As I look around at the sea of people walking, moving, being, and just plannning to live their lives; many questions run through my head. I wonder what their life is like. Do they know the Lord? What are their dreams and visions? If they’re an adult, what were they like as a child? If they are a child, what do they want to be when they grow up? Will they grow up? Then I begin to think, do they see themselves like I see them? Does a skinny person think they are fat? Does a short person think they are tall? Like I said, many questions run through my mind.

I believe a person does not know who they truly are until they are put into a tight position. We would all like to think we would be brave in the face of danger or kind in the time of need, but what do we look like in the face of the recession? Fathers are killing their entire families because they received a pink slip, or are taking their own lives because they are reduced to one car instead of two. On April 21st 59-year-old William Parente traveled from New York to Maryland, and in a selfish act of financial despair murdered his wife and two daughters and then himself. The man Mr. Parente thought he was, prior to receiving a pink slip, was not the same man that entered The Sheraton Baltimore North on that fateful day. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

People like Mr. Parente at one time believed that they were loving, strong, intelligent, and morally good. They spent quality time with their children, never cheated on their wives, and turned their noses up at those that committed crimes. However, in the time of trouble the mirror revealed that these men were not who they thought they were.

For the thousands of directors, managers, supervisors, and executives out of work; does the mirror reveal a pride that hinders them from accepting such titles as assistant or coordinator? Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. As a society we judge people according to the houses they live in, the cars they drive, and the people they know, but as this recession marches on many are coming face to face with themselves. Strong men are becoming weak, intelligence is giving way to madness, and loving parents are becoming murderers. Mirror mirror on the wall.

CNN.com May 19- Despondent dads driven to kill loved ones