Chronicle at strive4impact.com

(regarding Chuck 'E' Cheese Shootings, where a young man went in and shot people at a Chuck'E'Cheese Restaurant. This was an event that had a profound effect on me.)
December 1993
(Jonathan is 13)

POLICE SAY THE FEAR SHOULD DIMINISH AFTER THE ARREST. NO WAY.

JUST NOT FAIR

January 1994
(Jonathan is 14)

There are two types of people. Those with commitment, and those who acquire other's commitment.

Is anybody there, does anybody care, does anybody see what I see?
It wants us to quit, and it wants us to stop our fight, but to violence I say goodnight.

January 1994
(Jonathan is 14)

HOW ARE AIR STRIKES GOING TO STOP KILLING?

January 1994
(Jonathan is 14)

Dear God,
It's been a while since I've written a letter. I've also found other ways to pray now. Of course, you know that.

Why can't I stop? Why don't I listen to you when you tell me to resist temptation and go to the Bible instead? Why do I listen to the temptation?

God, please give me the grace of knowing that you're always with me. Please help me to live my life according to this plan.

You have shown me how to see, and taught me how to hear. Matt 13 Verse 17. Help me to serve you, as I am forever indebted to you. Thank you for giving me what I have. Help me to share it.

Jonathan Kraft

February 1994
(Jonathan is 14)

God,
Thank you for all you have given me. Friends, good family, people who care. Thank you for the abilities you have given me for this life. Musically, I have been given a great gift, which over time will develop into something much greater. Thank you for the physical abilities you have given me. Especially football. It's an amazing sport (as is any other), if you feel it. Thank you for the ability to see things about other people that they might not even know about themselves. The ability to know what other people are thinking about, but also the ability to help people before they get to their struggle. Most importantly, thank you for my writing skills.

They will impact many, and will hopefully bring them into a closer relationship with you.

March 1994
(Jonathan is 14)

What are we doing building a $2.3 billion airport when there's homeless, when there's volunteers who should be paid, when there...

March 1994
(Jonathan is 14)

How about stopping them before they're convicted three times?

Every step I take I think is the right one, but when my foot is planted I find that the ground is looser than before or I step down on a nail or a rock, which makes my foot sore. Will the next step I take the right one for me?

Will the next step I take
be the right one for me?
Will I be my true self
instead of what people see?
Will I find a path
no one is trod on before
or am I walking
to a locked door

I step on something sharp
I look and see a stone
I want to sit down
and rest my tired bones
but I have to keep walking
my own separate path
through all my troubles
despite all the mishap
I have to get others
to follow where I go
but it has to be done
without putting on a show

March 1994
(Jonathan is 14 - and totally smitten with a girl named Jackie who he met at World Youth Day in Summer 1993)

To Jackie;

Love poems written
in the past
have shared memories
that would last

For us, there is but one
memory there
but I hope that's not all
that we share

Waiting for you
to come to me
is something I can't afford
a luxury
because if I didn't see you
at least once again
I could never see
another woman
without thinking of you
and the presence you gave
walk him that night
on a cold street paved

Without seeing you
or knowing your true face
I tend to think
I'll lose my place

Lost in life
without knowing you
it will be hard
to make it through

I can't live without
your voice that I hear
without it I lose
my hope and I fear
facing tomorrow
without you my side
and without I'd lose
the ability to try

Everything about you
a bad thing, I couldn't say
all I think about is
our want to see you today
I'm following what I feel
inside my heart
and I hope that's where
will find our start

In a world of hope,
Faith, and care,
I hope there's something
more that we share

Love

April 12, 1994
(Jonathan is 14, and still heartbroken over a girl named Jackie who he met at World Youth Day in Summer 1993)

WHERE'S THE ROSE NOW?
IS IT STILL THERE?
IF IT IS
WHERE CAN I FIND IT, WHERE?

DEEP INSIDE,
I KNOW IT'S BEEN FROZEN
IT JUST SITS THERE
LEFT UNCHOSEN
WITH ONE DELICATE TOUCH,
IT COULD CRACK
IT MIGHT SHATTER
WITH A SIMPLE STEP BACK

I'm too scared to move
so I sit at a standstill
staring at the Rose, I wonder
why is it I don't feel a chill?
The sun is shining,
but the roses shaded
by a cloud
its colors faded.

Rose, please,
feel the shining sun
you will see
a wonderful relationship has begun

April 1994
(Jonathan is 14, and is still heartbroken over a girl named Jackie who he met at World Youth Day in Summer 1993)

Every time I'm away from her,
I feel alone inside my heart

If she died, a part of me would die also
because there will always be a part of her in me

Only God knows how much I love her

Love can build a bridge
if God is love,
then God can build a bridge

April 1994
(Jonathan is 14, and is heartbroken over a girl named Jackie who he met at World Youth Day in Summer 1993)

What is this
this presence I feel
coming from her
is it something real
it's unlike anything
I'm able to explain
and perhaps it's that presence
that's causing me this pain

May 1, 1994
(Jonathan is 14, and is still heartbroken over a girl named Jackie who he met at World Youth Day in Summer 1993)

Jackie,
I do not know whether or not you'll ever see this letter. I pray that you someday will

Let me tell you why a like you so much. It goes far beyond the way you look.

In my life, I have had three experiences in which I felt a presence of another person before I had seen them.

You were the third

I can't explain this feeling, anymore than to say it's very compelling. It draws me towards you and makes me feel like I shouldn't be anywhere but with you. I don't expect you to understand it, because I'm not sure that I do.

July 1994
Jonathan is 15

Dear God,
Is it wrong? Could it be a factor when I reach heaven? I understand the wrongness in it, but it seems like I've gotten some pretty subtle hints that say it's ok, but perhaps it's not you giving the messages.
%Jon, listen to your heart, you'll know what's right.%

August 7, 1994
Jonathan is 14

The girl who could talk with her eyes
Tonight I met her
I tried to talk
but what could or would I have said?
Tonight I met her,
and in her eyes, I saw a brilliance of the soul
A brilliance ready to shine
A brilliance that is ready to help
Is this,
This girl who can talk with her eyes,
Is this what I've been waiting for?
Perhaps.

September 1994

I used to sit up late at nights and write to someone who had given me more than I could ask for, ever. I didn't know much about details... little things and big things alike, I didn't know about, but it was okay, and it was fun for me to stay up late those nights writing. They helped me discover more of what I'd been given.

Then I began to slip away. I was a Sunday Catholic who really didn't have a statement for life. That time was hard. And the bad thing and strange thing about it was I could have made it so much easier just by finding out who I'd been writing to.

December 1994
Jonathan is 15

Balances between innocence and reality

March 1995
Jonathan is 15

EXCUSES

A gun isn't made to kill. It's made to fire a projectile through a round cylinder.
-Intratec Gun Manufacturer

A four month old fetus is not living.
- Planned Parenthood

April 1995
Jonathan is 15

The Hypocrisy Of It All

-People hate the world we live in, but only complain and do nothing more

-People want peace but argue and fight with each other over small issues

-People want others to create their hope for the future for them