For Nixzmary Brown

Yet again an adult given to pure evil has murdered another child.

This time in Brooklyn, New York 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown was beaten to death by her step-father Cesar Rodriguez. He then tossed her on the floor of what the family called their "dirty room," a rodent-infested room where little Nixzmary had been tied up and left with only a litter box as a toilet. This little second grader had been beaten, starved and sexually molested in the weeks before her 'care giver' brutally murdered her by a blow to her head. She weighed only 36 pounds... In her short time on earth the adults entrusted by God to love and nurture this child treated her worse than most people would treat a vicious animal.

Others will, no doubt, debate the role of the child protective services that let little Nixzmary fall through the cracks in the system. Some may use the case to advocate the death penalty or some other political agenda. I don’t know what the answers are in dealing with most of the world’s problems. I find I am often at a loss to know what the right course of action is in many of the problems that plague our race. I can’t comprehend the scope of the problem of child abuse. I do understand love and I understand the pain of one child. My heart goes out to this one little girl who never got a chance.

I know that every child is made in the image of the Living God and is worthy of love. I know that God is watching us. I know He entrusts us with children for us to love them and teach them to be decent human beings. I know that every child that dies will breathe again. I know that every child will know the love of God…one day.

This story will only be a footnote in the news outlets that report it at all. Such things happen too often, every day and in every country on earth. We've become used to them. Instead of stopping to take notice, most people will go on with their lives like the murder of this one child has no effect on their world. This was a crime against humanity. That affects all of us.

May people of good will take notice. The bell tolls for thee...