I write this today with a heavy heart and with the hope that it will have some type of a cathartic effect on me and perhaps those in our small community in Webster, NY. As many are now aware, Michael Pilato, a 10th grader at the same high school that both my daughters attend, is purported to have spread gasoline around his home at 1am early Wednesday morning on December 7th, lit a match, and walked away.
He left knowing that burning inside were his adopted parents, two brothers, and sister. As I write this there are three confirmed dead; the father and two brothers. The girl, only in 8th grade, escaped by jumping out a second story window. The mother is still hospitalized. Michael, at 15 years old, will likely not be seeing the light of day for many years to come.
I made an interesting observation yesterday that’s worth sharing. I happened to listen to the Brother Wease show on 95.1 The Fox, Tuesday morning and on his show an individual named Justin called in. Justin just happens to be struggling with psychiatric issues and was in fact listed as a missing person at the time of his call (the call is what led authorities to find him).
Before he was apprehended Justin had some interesting things to say, things that most dismissed as crazy talk. For example he spoke about how he’d seen a shooting star the other night and that it was the brightest star he’d ever seen. He remarked, repeatedly, that he’d seen it at 1:11a.m.. He also said that he felt it was a message – that he was sent to Wease’s show by God to relay a message. Maybe it was this message of the shooting star, who knows. It was hard to understand Justin because he wasn’t speaking very coherently.
That very night, leading in to the wee hours of Wednesday morning, a fire was started at a home in Webster. The fire started sometime between 1:05 and 1:12 a.m.. A neighbor, seeing flames, called the fire department at 1:14. By the time firemen arrived mere minutes later, Carmen and one of his sons were already gone. With another son soon to follow. At approximately the same time of night that Justin had seen his star, two lives were lost.
What got me thinking was that what if Justin was right? Maybe it wasn’t just crazy talk. Maybe he really was sent to deliver a message. Imagine the strange coincidence in his mention of 1:11a.m., over and over, as when he saw this star and that at 1:11a.m. that very night lives were lost. It’s not that God hasn’t used a star in the past as a sign. Remember the bright star in the East that led the wise men to Christ’s birthplace?
Here’s the message for you as it may have been intended by God (and if not, it’s still a good message!):
Life is as fleeting as a shooting star. Choose how you live it wisely.
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Filed under: General Information | Tagged: Brother Wease, God, Michael Pilato, Pilato, Shooting Star | 1 Comment »
