Goto Beheaded on Saturday

Today I looked up Kenji Goto because I was very curious as to how he was doing and how the whole situation turned out. On Saturday morning Kenji Goto was beheaded and the video was posted on social media. When I looked up his name on Google I found something shocking, a picture of Kenji with his head sitting on his back which was lying on the ground. Goto has been in my prayers for the past week and I know people all around the world were doing the same.

I truly believed that this hostage situation could work out for the best, and my first thoughts were that it hadn’t. When I thought deeply about it however I realized that maybe this will end in good, maybe this will wake Japan up and cause them to take a stronger role in the international fight against ISIL. Maybe this will cause countries to reassess their ideas of isolationism and will call them to arms against this great threat. What is the point of living free when others cannot even feel the same freedom? I for one will not live in arrogance and ignore what other people around the world are facing in their daily lives.

How could we allow such things to go on in the world while we live blissfully and safely in our nice comfortable lives, nothing to disturb them. This weekend I went through a hard time, I went through a break up after two years, and then we kind of got back together and it was hurtful and confusing. When I compare my problems to Goto’s they pale in comparison. My problems are so silly and it puts it all into perspective, my life is so perfect compared to others in the world, I have it so easy. I go about my daily life in safety, I don’t have to worry about the safety of my family, I can say what I want and get what I want when I want it. My life is so simple, so easy in comparison to others; it makes me strive to do my best in everything because I have been blessed beyond belief. Goto lost his life and left a family behind, I get mad when I don’t get a good dinner--I’m so foolish.

Another thought came to my head, if I could easily access this picture then so could Goto’s children. One day they will be able to access the beheaded picture of their father and that is the last (most recent) picture that they will see of him. Goto’s mother had to see her son beheaded on camera; his wife had to watch his last breaths, his last screams. The picture I saw left a very distinct mark in my thoughts, imagine what it does to his family and friends—God bless them.