My failure.....

Today is not a good day. Last night I was with friends in the woods making a fire and generally having a good time. We heard somebody scream, but thought nothing of it. Then this morning I found out a terrible thing. Thirteen year old Jasmine Cruz was killed in the woods that night. Her body was found a couple hundred feet from where my friends and I were having a good time. Then I realized that the scream we heard was Jasmine calling for help. My heart is torn for the loss of life, and my failure as a person and a Jedi to help someone who needed somebody to save them. There are no words to express my sorrow. I just ask everyone who reads this to keep this girl in their hearts to remind them who we are as Jedi and what we stand for: to protect all who need protection. Hopefully my failure wont be yours.

The failure is not your own. When something is out of place, removed from its context in your mind, it is usually ignored. That is the way we are wired. Human beings are not made to be constantly vigilant. Failures and blame in the case of a random out of place event are not necessary. Greve for the girl, but do not blame yourself for a crime committed by another.

I'll second Andy on this...

There is no way you are to blame, so there is no 'failure' on your part...

Had you realized things were amiss, I am sure you would have done your best to get help, provided you were unable to do it yourself....

Less than a month ago, I was walking home from Gamestop when I saw a man arguing with a woman. They were marching through the streets and through traffic, and the situation got really scary - for both the woman's safety, as well as the safety of those in the area (including myself!)

Eventually, the man began to beat the woman down to the ground, and I was absolutely shocked.

Now you could argue that I could jump in there and help the woman against her abuser. But think about this from a distant, impartial view. How would I be of any physical help to the woman? The man would probably harm me too, and what good would come out of me stepping in? A lot of bad, I can imagine.

Now, how could you have gotten involved and done something to help the woman? Believe me, if the man wanted to kil the woman enough, he would do it and accept any consequences. He'd probably try to harm or kill you for getting in his way. And what would happen if you were harmed? How would the Temple feel?

Andy Spalding wrote: The failure is not your own. When something is out of place, removed from its context in your mind, it is usually ignored. That is the way we are wired. Human beings are not made to be constantly vigilant. Failures and blame in the case of a random out of place event are not necessary. Greve for the girl, but do not blame yourself for a crime committed by another.

That, and also, we are not responsible for vigilante justice. Real Jedi aren't batmen or wonder women. We're law abiding citizens who strive for morality and justice, and many other things of course. What justice could you or I have brought by trying to fight?

for me, when I fight people like that

it isn't about the fight

it's about defending and protecting the people he is abusing.


but going from how I have handled that

do this, when he stops or something, just help the woman, take her to hospital

don't involve yourself with the attacker unless it's absolutely neccassary

I would only step in to protect them, so they should be the priority

I have also been in a situation where I could have helped somebody, when I didn't

but don't blame yourself, I will keep Jasmine in my prayers and you as well.

I am not going to get on people about what they may or may not have done. I will Just leave a couple of quotes I find helpful.

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. -Edmund Burke

I am not endorsing vigilantism, just do SOMETHING. Even if it being a good witness or being present so they know their actions do not go unnoticed.

“You can’t win, but there are alternatives to fighting.” ―Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars IV: A New Hope

A phone call, a video, a report and a description. So many things go unchallenged because people don't want to "intrude"

This is actually some thing I've been looking into. My very good friend Wescli pointed out that this world doesn't "NEED" Jedi. Well in a way he's right...you dont need anything. You dont NEED air until its gone. You dont NEED water until its gone....so what happens when humans that are willing to learn how to help and protect(Jedi) are gone? What would that look like? Hmm.... :dry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSsPfbup0ac&list=PLAC5BDC262E18B063



SO this is not your fault. Its just the way humans are. Jedi should train them selves to do better. To get involved if it calls for it. Some times things have a way of working them selves out. However training is not enough. In the great words of Ra's Al Ghul- "Your training is nothing your will is everything....the will to act".

I'm sorry to hear what happened to you but you still have breath in your lungs. You can still do good. You missed a chance to do something but its not a failure. understand that please.

The Force Will Be With You.

I forgot to mention...

This situation reminds me of this scene:

Obi-Wan: There's nothing you could have done, Luke, had you been there. You'd have been killed, too, and the droids would now be in the hands of the empire.
Luke: I want to come with you to alderaan. There's nothing for me here now. I want to learn the ways of the force and become a jedi like my father.

ferreire580 wrote: Thirteen year old Jasmine Cruz was killed in the woods that night.

OMG Where did this happen? Sad so very sad.

Thank you all. I really needed what you guys said. My heart is lighted by.all your words.

Here in lies what troubled my belief in a God vs in the Force.

As a Christian, I hear of these things and wonder how an all knowing, all powerful, benevolent God could let this happen to a child.

As a believer in the Force, I now understand that the path that each of us take, is OUR path and NO ONE else's! We are guided by the energy of the Force and the subtleties of its influence, but we direct and follow our own way.

There is no influence you could have made on the outcome of this event. The paths of each person, although close in geographic proximity, are separated by countless variables.

Rest easy in your unnecessary guilt, there is only one person who is at fault for this child's death, and their evil will be dealt with in time.

Phortis Nespin wrote: Here in lies what troubled my belief in a God vs in the Force.

As a Christian, I hear of these things and wonder how an all knowing, all powerful, benevolent God could let this happen to a child.

As a believer in the Force, I now understand that the path that each of us take, is OUR path and NO ONE else's! We are guided by the energy of the Force and the subtleties of its influence, but we direct and follow our own way.

There is no influence you could have made on the outcome of this event. The paths of each person, although close in geographic proximity, are separated by countless variables.

Rest easy in your unnecessary guilt, there is only one person who is at fault for this child's death, and their evil will be dealt with in time.

You had me for most of this post up until the last phrase: "...and their evil will be dealt with in time."

How do we know that?

What I've come to believe about the Force is that as inspiring and wonderful that it is, it is ultimately uncaring and moves along like a river unperturbed by our virtues or vices...

Curious your thoughts on that.

Time is relative.

Their evil will be dealt with in time

does not just mean in the context of years, months, days, hours, and minutes, but in the universal time, the time in which the Force is the timekeeper, or should I say...timeless keeper. This is where I believe the Force balances all good and evil. They say time heals all things, I believe time gives us the opportunity to see both sides of a story or the good things in life as well as the bad, in order to balance our perspectives.

Whether the person who perpetrated this act is brought to justice by humans or not, the evil will be dispersed into the universal consciousness where it will be equalized by good. I believe this is the way the Force balances all things. Because the Force does not know good or evil, but only balance, it will find the equal and opposite of the evil causing them to offset each other.

It seems that nature is always looking for ways to be in balance, and I believe nature is a reflection of the workings of the Force. Because Nature acts by "instinct", not knowing good or bad and that things just happen because of the circle of life, I surmise the Force is the same.

Another thought...

When you throw dirty water into a river, does the river not equalize the dirty water with the water already contained? I believe this is the effect the Force has on all things. Balance must be maintained.

Balance is always returned....

If you want to take anything from your experience, take this: use this unfortunate event as fuel, let it drive you to be more vigilant (watchful), to be more aware of your surroundings, to train yourself to act instead of react, to prepare for a variety of scenarios...by that I don't mean you have to go jumping into the fray if it's not your strength, there are cameras, cell phones, camera phones, law enforcement....plan and play to your strengths...

This was not your failure, it is the failure of the perpetrator's morality....balance will return...karma has a funny way of coming back around...

I'm curious what the rest of you would do? Perhaps we can all learn from this and prepare ourselves mentally for things like this. OK so you hear a scream in the woods... what do you do next?
Call the cops? No signal
Grab a gun? You stopped carrying it because they aren't necessary
Go marching off into the dark woods to rescue someone from a murderer?
GTFO?

We can what if any situation to death. From the way you are limiting options, you must be looking for limited answers.

Rickie The Grey wrote:

ferreire580 wrote: Thirteen year old Jasmine Cruz was killed in the woods that night.

OMG Where did this happen? Sad so very sad.

Did this happen in PA where you live? Got a link?

I have family in Pa.

I can't find anything for "Jasmine Cruz" googling it or in news except a model.

I don't know why its not on the news yet. It didn't even see it in the paper. It happened in the town next to me in Whitehall/Coplay.

ferreire580 wrote: I don't know why its not on the news yet. It didn't even see it in the paper. It happened in the town next to me in Whitehall/Coplay.

You need to let the police know what you heard. I found the article and they're calling it a suicide.
Jasmin Flores 13 year old