Some things are just so much for our minds can take in. Those things may be ecstatic joy, hurtful, disappointing, frightening, rewarding, or even horrific. This past week a close knit community experienced the horrific kind of nightmare most of us will never go through. I’m speaking of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Those people started their day that morning the same as usual for the most part. They said good bye to their children, probably wished them a good day, and went to work or whatever else belonged to that day. Mamas and Daddies left their precious ones in the charge of the teachers and faculty who took care of them each day. There was the normal hustle of students getting to their classes, sitting at their assigned desks. School had hardly begun when their safe world was shattered. I can’t conceive of the terror those teachers, students, and that principal experienced before it was over. There were faculty, at least one student, and various law and medical officials who didn’t know they would become heroes before the morning was over.

The sheer terror the students and faculty experienced that morning is unfathomable to me. Also, I just can’t imagine the anguish and pain of the parents, siblings, and friends as they found out and prayed their children would be among the survivors. Even worse is the horror of those who learned that their child or loved one would not be. I likewise can’t imagine the torment the law and medical officials went through as they surveyed and examined the details of the scene, trying not to think of the children in their own lives. The father and brother of the shooter are hurting, too. This has got to be surreal to them, also. They need our prayers.

Roughly 2000 years ago there was another massacre; only aimed at baby boys two years and younger. Enforced by a king, to literally kill any possible future king who would threaten his earthly throne, the Roman soldiers raided Goshen and massacred those Jewish babies. The parents and siblings witnessed it all. They probably couldn’t comprehend it all at first either. With broken hearts, and stunned minds, they wept and mourned like they hadn’t before. These were their babies; ruthlessly gone. I just can’t imagine going through such a thing.

These massacres have a lot in common even though committed so far apart in history. Hurt, anguish, disbelief, hate, love, desperation, fear, and so many other things fill our minds. I won’t pretend to have all the answers of why these things happened. I do know that Jesus loves the victims, and with time and his touch He will heal the survivors. In the meantime we pray and pray, and want to do more. Just as back then, we may feel helpless. We are not. One of the best and healthiest things we can do besides pray is to reach out. We can send cards and letters if we live far away from Sandy Hook. At the bottom of this blog you will find the address that was published to send correspondence to the survivors. I’m ready to do something more, and I would love to comfort some of them, even if it is from a distance. If you don’t know what to say, just say that, and that you are sending them a hug. Just that much will make a difference. Let’s help their sore hearts heal. Please join me in sending them assurance that we grieve not with the same grief as they do, but we do grieve with them and that they are in our prayers daily. Thank you.

Be blessed, my friends

Sandy Hook Elementary School

12 Dickenson Drive

Sandy Hook, CT  06482