The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Ps. 34:18)
I was sick to my stomach over Tuesday’s news. 22 lives lost. 19 precious babies. 2 teachers. 1 troubled 18 year old boy. I have no children of my own, but I cherish my 3 beautiful nieces. My husband and I are looking forward to having a baby of our own. As such, I have been doing a lot of thinking about what it looks like to raise a child in today’s world, a world where such tragedy and darkness can exist even in elementary school hallways and classrooms.
I grieve for the children. I grieve for the families. I also grieve for the shooter. I have to admit that when I heard the news, I was disgusted by the perpetrator of this heinous act. But when I saw that the shooter was only 18 years old, I felt deep sadness for him. 18 years old. It’s unfathomable. I have a niece who just turned 18. I have spent many years volunteering working with teens. Although 18 is the age you are legally considered an adult, at 18, you’re still an adolescent. He was practically still a child himself.
It leads me to question, as a society, how are we failing our young people? Something is broken at a societal level, a familial level and at the heart level. As a society, what messages are we sending our youth? One thing I have struggled with as an aunt of two teenage nieces is how to engage them about the types of media they are consuming. So much of it is fraught with horror and violence. The latest horror film or the latest album focused heavily on dark themes and content seems all in good fun and trendy. However, I worry that this generation is becoming calloused and desensitized to acts of extreme evil and violence. I worry that for many there is a disconnect between fiction and reality. I worry that they are as unmoved by the violence they see on the 8 o’clock news, as they are by the violence that they see in the movie theater. I worry that with this desensitization towards violence can come with a disregard for human life, for the lives of others, as well as their own.
I wonder are we making every resource available to help kids and families achieve mental and emotional health and stability? Within our jobs, neighborhoods, and communities, are we finding ways to engage our youth and to show genuine concern and care for them? Are our schools educating our children on how to care for themselves not only physically but emotionally and mentally? Are matters of mental and emotional well-being being pushed to the side as they study math and science? I’m not sure.
In our homes, are we taking the time to listen to the details of our kids’ lives? Are we paying attention to their pain or shrugging off depression and anger as just a phase they will get over? Are we giving them space to be heard, seen and understood?
As a Christian woman, I wonder how having faith in God who personifies love can alter the trajectory of a young person’s life, as they discover that He has a life-giving purpose for them that transcends their plans for this Saturday and whatever feels good in the moment. I wonder how we can create more opportunities for families and youth to connect with the kind of hope and love that faith brings.
Within our own hearts, we must ask ourselves what we must do to be a part of the solution.
Somedays we will have more questions than answers. Who am I kidding? That’s most days. Today, I take comfort knowing that there’s a God who feels our hurt, who weeps with us, and who sits with us in our brokenness. His arms are open wide and invite us into His embrace. I find comfort in knowing that He holds us in His love and knows how to make us whole, once again.
