I had a Healthy Thursday blog ready to post today, but I changed my mind. It is a helpful one and I will post it next week. Today, however, it did not seem appropriate.
In light of the tragedy in Florida yesterday, I felt a need to go in another direction. On October 2 I wrote about the Las Vegas shooting. In my last paragraph I said this:
The tragedy ripples out. The dead, the injured, the terrified, the culprit. There is no part that is not tragic. What kind of pain, what kind of illness, what kind of brokenness begins this? Perhaps the biggest tragedy is not knowing that answer.
How sad it is that the above paragraph fits in with nearly every other similar tragedy.
The incident yesterday screams of the unthinkable, the unconscionable, the unimaginable.
When my boys were in high school, I am sure there were days that I sent them off with an occasional parent/child disagreement about homework or dirty clothes left on the floor or something else that in hindsight, is meaningless.
When I hear of things like this, it makes me wonder what that last morning was like at home. Was it rushed? Was there a hug and a smile before heading out the door? Was there a misunderstanding, perhaps even harsh words?
My heart aches for these parents, these siblings, these grandparents. My heart also aches for the shooter and his family.
Yes, certain gun laws must be tightened. Yes, there are mental health issues. Yes, he was a ‘bad kid’, as I heard one person say. But Lord forgive us for making this about anything less than what is truth. That truth is that we all need a savior. I know that word can sound a bit ‘churchy’. But here is what savior really means.
Savior is defined as one that saves from danger or destruction.
Some savior synonyms are: Defender, hero, deliverer, protector, preserver, rescuer.
That is what a savior does. Those students needed a deliverer, a protector, a rescuer. But oh my goodness, if the shooter felt he had a savior, maybe, just maybe those students would not have needed one.