Feeling Out Loud is a Sacred Protest
She blasted through doors of the entryway. I watched the security footage in horror as she crouched through the shattered pane of the door frame and entered the empty hallway of Covenant Presbyterian Church and School. She carried a weapon. Yes, it was a weapon. It wasn’t for hunting or self-defense. It was a weapon meant to kill and steal and destroy… and that’s exactly what she used it for. She killed three children and three adults. She stole the innocence of countless other kids who had to watch and hide and flee. She destroyed the sense of comfort and safety many people find in sacred spaces like churches. The horror and scars and grief will stay with them for the rest of their lives. The damage will spread far beyond even what I can imagine. So I weep once again. I grieve once again. I question once again.
How long, O Lord? How long?
The last time I shared my sadness over a school shooting I got attacked online by people bellowing about the 2nd Amendment and their “god-given rights as Americans.” If you read this lament and your instinct is to respond in such a way. Don’t! Just don’t. I don’t understand your point of view, and I NEVER will. But you are also free to believe as you do. Just find another place to argue and another person to argue with. In my writing and in my creative work I try to cultivate a safe space to grieve and lament and feel out loud. I will protect that, as I believe it is needed and sacred space. As another pastor said in response to the shooting,
“Feeling out loud is a sacred protest.” — Pastor Scott Sauls
I pray we all will know the comforting presence of God with us as we once again grieve and weep and mourn. I pray the Spirit of God will stir in us to respond in love… in praise and protest. May the light of the world rise up against the powers of darkness and weapons they wield. May we one day soon know peace.