I stood transfixed at the monitor in the lobby where I work. The crawl at the bottom of the screen said, "Report of a shooting at an elementary school in CT." As the day wore on, the grim details were revealed. As the father of school age children I was horrified. More so when I learned that the little school in the sleepy New England town only went up to grade four. More so when I heard that the victims were among the youngest at the school. And so on, and so on...
In the coming weeks and months we will be entreated to numerous discussions about gun control and mental health. And while these conversations need to be had, the reality is that all the gun laws and mental health advocacy in the world won't address the real problem: What we were witness to in the Sandy Point School shooting was nothing less than a manifestation of pure evil. There could be no more compelling evidence that Satan is real, and for all his attempts to appear as 'an angel of light', he can't help but let the mask slip, and expose himself in all his vileness and depravity as he did that fateful December Friday.
The GOOD news is, there is an answer. The only answer for this sin sick world. The answer is the divine power and love of G-d through Christ Jesus. This unspeakable tragedy is a tremendous opportunity for The Body of Christ to show that love to the world. Not by beating people over the head with our beliefs, but by an outpouring of love, the kind which has sprung up around the world in the wake of the atrocity. We are not promised a trouble free life, nor are we promised a tidy explanation of everything that happens, but we have the assurance that our Heavenly Father sits high and looks low, and will pour out His love and compassion on all who diligently seek Him.
