Processing the Unimaginable

This one hit way too close to home this week. Another school shooting. More rantings from the left and right and more politicizing a tragedy. 

How about we just take a step back and process the facts and grieve with the families who lost loved ones? Why do we immediately have to jump on our political bandwagons and try and force our views on each other? 

Regardless of whether you are a proponent for banning guns or you are a card carrying member of the NRA, what happened is heartbreaking. No person, child or adult, should suffer the ultimate consequence of someone else's mental breakdown. Let's just speak the truth on that. This woman suffered a complete mental breakdown and lapse in judgement. Why else would someone shoot their way into an elementary school and open fire on administrators and kids? This woman had a plan and knew what she was walking into long before she even showed up at the school. No one in their right mind would do that. 

We have to step back from our own feelings and notions of what WE think is the right response to what happened and just let everyone process the actions of yesterday. Process and grieve. Process and feel. Shut our mouths and just be in the moment. Get off social media and go to the people who are hurting and just be there for them. If talking is your way of processing, find someone to talk to. If sitting in prayer or with your Bible is your way of processing, go to your private space and talk to God, plead with him for the hearts and souls of our country.

Posting your own opinion of how this can be avoided will only lead to more anger and more hurt from both sides. There is a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance (Eccl 3:4). Right now is the time to weep and mourn. Right now is a time to allow people to process what has happened and to try and figure out the next steps. And newsflash, the next steps aren't political. The next steps are trying to figure out how to move forward without their loved ones. How to honor their memory. How to start to heal, whenever the time comes for that. 

We need to stop responding to tragedies with rash judgements and pushing our own agendas. I'm speaking to myself more than anyone else. It was my first reaction to be angry and ask why this happened and want to put blame where it didn't belong. It was my first reaction to jump on social media and see what other people were saying and to get angry and want to lash out when people were trying to "solve" the problem with their opinions. I just needed to sit with my kids and hold them a little tighter and hug them a little longer and pray for the parents of those three kids who don't get to do that anymore. I needed to hit my knees and pray for all parents and kids and administrators and police officers. I needed to pray for the family of the shooter. I needed to pray for my heart to be open to grief and sadness for the senseless loss of life. All seven of them. 

The bottom line is, this life is full of tragedy and evil. Sin has done this. Satan has done this. But we can have confidence in God, because this life is only temporary. Things like this will only happen for so long because Jesus has already won the victory. That doesn't keep us from feeling loss and sadness, but it can help us have that peace that surpasses all understanding. My prayer is that everyone can take a step back and process the unimaginable. The loss of life. Just stay in that moment until we can step forward with ready hearts and love for each other. Love, true love, needs to be our motivator. We need to be able to help one another process by listening to understand, not listening to respond.

Hug your loved ones a little tighter today. We aren't promised tomorrow.

God bless.