February 15, 2018
I rarely comment on specific current events because they are an ever moving target. But the shooting of 17 students by an expelled 19 year old in Florida has captivated the whole country. I was especially challenged by a social media post by a ministry friend Kelly and I served with in CO. It’s nothing we don’t “know,” but I wonder if there is way more we could all do?
9 years ago the shooter was 10 years old. What was happening in his life? Was there a time in his life when an adult could have taken him under their wing, and made a difference? Maybe we need to lay the blame at our own feet as adults who can’t be bothered with the hurting child. The one who is the outsider because he isn’t athletic, or a good student. The one who doesn’t seem good at anything that counts. He isn’t popular with the “in crowd “, or the teacher’s favorite. Every year that passes he becomes more of an outsider, and no one notices or cares. Is he born with a mental illness, or is it caused by a society that worships looks and money? When coming in second means you failed? My heart hurts for those families who are grieving today, but it also hurts for all those children who slip through the cracks. We can’t make a difference for every child, but we can make a difference for the ones God brings into our lives – or sends us out to find!
“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?” -Jesus
Grace Notes 