School Shootings

I groaned out loud when I saw the news of the shooting at the Amish school. I'm not sure why this particular shooting is as bothersome to me as it is. Maybe it's the fact that this is at least 3 in a row over a relatively short period of time. Maybe it's because I have a daughter and in the last 3 shootings, it's been young women who have been victimized. Or maybe it's because this seems to be more than an attack on just children and females.

The Amish by choice lead a very simple and intentionally separate life. They have conciously chosen to look and live differently than the rest of the world. The "one-room schoolhouse" where the shooting occurred is an expression of there chosen lifestyle. The irony is that their choice to educate their children in that context as a means of protecting them from the world, really put them at greater risk, because there was no where to hide when the shooter entered the room.

I hate the fact that violence penetrates the world of the innocents so often and with such impunity. I hate the fact that people who are powerless are far too often the chosen targets of people who are choosing to make their own twisted and dark statements with guns and bombs. I hate the fact that "the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy" as often as he does. It makes me angry that there are parents with empty spaces in their homes tonight that weren't there this morning just because one man's inner world collapsed because of the work of the thief. It makes me angry that there is a widow who had nothing to do with her husbands actions but now faces her own valley of sorrows as she tries to cope with her own loss and the horrific actions of her husband.

I'm tempted to write about hope, redemption and sovereignty, but instead tonight, I just want to pray for those whose hearts are broken and whose lives are shattered.