May 19, 2018

Show the World Jesus

Jesus wept. – John 11:35

It happened again. That which we vowed wouldn’t, did. Students ran for their lives as a student-gunman aimed to kill those in a place that should have been safe.

Shootings within our schools simply shouldn’t happen. But they do. Why? Our hearts cry out in anguish. It is so senseless. Young lives cut short. A teacher gone too soon. Others suffering in hospitals. Lives that will relive the trauma forever.

Jesus wept. It’s the shortest verse in the Bible. It’s very simplicity draws us closer to the One who came to save us all. Jesus had the power to save Lazarus from death. And though He knew He would raise His friend from the dead, still Jesus let Lazarus die. He let Mary and Martha suffer.

But Jesus is not a Savior from a distance. He stands beside us to comfort and strengthen us when the senseless dramas of this world threaten to destroy us. He mourns with us.

Why did this happen? How can we stop it from happening again? I wish I had all the answers but I don’t. No one does. Is this pure evil or does it stem from the brokenness of people who are hurting so badly that they want others to hurt badly too?

Our mental health system fails kids every single day. So do the social service agencies designed to keep them safe. We are so focused on saving the family that we send children back again and again to places where they aren’t safe and nurtured and loved. We ignore obvious signs of distress because we don’t want to get involved and we don’t want to provide the resources to help children who are hurting. We’d rather look the other way than deal with the stigma called mental illness.

I don’t know this young man’s story. All the details haven’t begun to show themselves. Maybe we will never know it all. But I do know that a young man wearing a trench coat in the Texas heat should raise a few questions. It’s not normal. It’s not okay.

We’d rather not know. We prefer to isolate ourselves in our own little worlds rather than extend a helping hand. We prefer to talk with our friends, to gather with those who are like us, than welcome someone who is different, someone who is alone. We marginalize people who desperately need to belong somewhere, to someone.

Maybe the answer isn’t in big programs with lots of money thrown at them. Maybe the answer lies a little closer to home. Maybe it’s found in our hearts. Can we be the people who extend kindness to those who seem the least deserving? Can we reach out to those we don’t particularly like so that they can come to the altar of Christ?

It all begins with Jesus. It all ends there too. We have forgotten how to love the lost, the lonely, the poor and the rejected. We have forgotten that they are our problems, our challenges, our responsibility, because Jesus said it was so. Jesus told us to love one another. Why do we think He didn’t mean us?

Once again we have children hurting, parents grieving and a town shattered by violence. Instead of looking to others for answers, maybe it’s time we looked inside ourselves. Ask Jesus to meet you there. Open your eyes and your heart. People everywhere are hurting. Extend a helping hand. Show them Jesus by your words and your actions. Live your faith, one hurting person at a time.

April 3, 2018

Love With Action

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” – John 15:12-13

It was enough to send normally rational people into a tizzy. They were ready to come to blows over their “rights”. How dare someone, anyone, but especially teens, question them!

Yet, how bold and courageous were those young people to stand up and voice their concerns and opinions. They defied the establishment. They demanded accountability and change.

It all started with a school shooting. It wasn’t the first time. But nothing had been done by the adults who should have rushed to make changes long before now. They were too busy pointing fingers while kids were dying just for being at school.

Instead of reducing the violence, it seemed to be escalating. Were school shootings becoming normal? That’s just unacceptable. Something has to be done.

So these teens, these survivors, marched in order to be heard. They descended on Washington and demanded answers and change. They were within their rights to do so. This is a democracy. Everyone heard them. And for that they were attacked and condemned.

I believe strongly in the Second Amendment. I own guns and I know how to use them. That would probably shock a few people. I am not a hunter. I use those guns to kill snakes and varmints on the farm. And I use those guns for protection. I have been trained by law enforcement officers. I hope I never have to shoot another human being but, if I must, I will.

I don’t want to take away guns from law abiding citizens. But we’ve got a problem. Agencies aren’t communicating and reporting issues in a way that alerts authorities when someone who is unstable or has a history of violence is purchasing a gun. We have serious issues with mental health. The time to act is before something happens but our system doesn’t allow for that. We’ve got to change it.

And regular folks don’t need AK-15s or other combat guns. We don’t need them for defending ourselves, for hunting, even for collecting. Those in the military who use those types of weapons train and train and train. They aren’t meant for amateurs. They aren’t intended for people who have no business using  them.

I don’t know how to stop school shootings. I wish I did. I do believe it’s going to take everyone talking – not pointing fingers and passing blame – to make a difference. I admire those kids for stepping up and doing what we adults should have done after the first shooting – demand change.

It would have been easier for them to soldier on, getting through the days until graduation. They could have filled their time with normal teen activities and tried to forget the horror they’d witnessed. They chose to step up and step forward, enduring criticism that was at times unfair and unkind. They chose to make sure that no other school would ever have to endure that kind of terror and that kind of heartbreak.

They loved with action those who no longer have a voice.