As so many did, I spent the entirety of Friday afternoon in tears. Trying to wrap my head around such a horrific event now making its black mark on history and failing at being able to do so. The Bible speaks so clearly on how much our loving God feels about children and I believe His heart was aboslutely shattered at yesterday's actions. We will spend countless days, months, and years trying to figure out how to keep this from happening again, as is the case with every tragic event. After so many other tragedies, we have yet to figure out how to stop it, and perhaps we need to face the fact that we are looking at the wrong areas, trying to fix the wrong thing. Yesterday, I saw so many people post about gun control, violent video games, the media, casting some blame at the shooter's parents, and settling that he must have very simply been an inhuman madman.
Don't get me wrong about the last part of that sentence, you do have to be mentally or emotionally very unwell to do such a terrible thing. What I am getting at is that is not simply the problem. There have been far too many instances of this for it to be that we has a human race are just genetically producing more people who are crazy murderous maniacs. I believe with all my heart that God mourns the life of every person lost yesterday, even the shooter. He was once just a little boy, someone's brother, son, friend. Perhaps instead of looking to pass more laws about guns and being quick to pass the blame to the media and other areas, we need to look more relationally. There are countless things in this society that affect children and people negitively; and everyone reacts to those things differently. Maybe we need to be investing more time into people, stop judging someone because they are different or "a little off" and show kindness, love, and acceptance. Perhaps the real prevention lies in reaching out to others and recognizing and responding to the warning signs they see in others.
My mother-in-law once told me, you'd be surprised how many "normal" people are walking around with homicidal thoughts in their heads. Everyone has a breaking point, everyone is suseptible to feeling hopeless and detached from humanity. Please understand, I am not blaming anyone but the shooter and the very REAL EVIL that exists for this tragedy. What I am saying is that prevention does not lie anywhere but in hearing and seeing people, paying attention to the warning signs, and showing each person we encounter that we "see" them. "The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10) We will only find a way to prevent this if we can find ways to make every person feel as though they MATTER and that they are loved by a God who wants to give them hope and strength for every tomorrow. No person should feel like they "have" to do anything for anyone to KNOW THEY EXIST.
