A Season of Red, Green and Amber

Adam Walsh was the first symbol
of missing children victimized
by serpent-like villains who 
slither in the grass.
Predators who feed on the helpless
and devour a parent's peace of mind.
Especially when the guilty
escape capture
or justice.

But peace of mind
has been restored to one victim's
mother and dad
after twenty-seven
dreadfully long years
 
America's Most Wanted
is wanted no longer.
In short, when the Miami "heat"
finally admitted their failure
(as well as the facts),
a cold case
was closed this week.

John and Reve Walsh
are more apt to sleep in heavenly peace
this Christmas.
Why? Because they know the name
of their son's killer.
What is more 
Ottis Toole  will never kill again.
And for good reason, 
that bad man is dead.
 
For the Walsh family,
the colors of the season
aren't just red and green.
 
For them, Amber has become
just as significant.
It's a color signaling
the sad reality that children
(like their son)
continue to be at risk.
 
Amber is the color
that calls to mind
why we celebrate Christmas
in the first place.
 
Long ago and far away
in an ancient garden
of goodness and light,
innocence was stalked
by the forces of darkness.
It was there another Adam
was defiled by deceit
and robbed of his
God-intended destiny.
 
Furthermore, in Eden's Adam
we see countless others
whose disappearance and deaths
prompted a search and rescue mission
conceived in the heart of God
long before Mary conceived
a baby in her virgin womb
(or Reve conceived Adam
in love's embrace).
 
It was the embryo of grace
that would (in His perfect time)
develop into
fully-formed love.
 
And so to our evil-prone world
God came as a helpless child
knowing all the while
He would be hunted and captured
by the powers of darkness.
 
And though an Amber-alert-like panic 
would signal hopeless despair,.
it would only last for three days.
The One kidnapped by evil
would eventually be found alive
and would be found capable of
rescuing all who put their trust in Him.