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A Culture of Compassion
By Jeremy | April 17, 2007
+ Thirty-two innocent victims.
+ Dozens wounded.
+ One crazed gunman.
+ Nearly eight years to the day after Columbine, another student at a different school commits the most heinous mass murder in US history.
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On September 11, 2001, my father found himself at the scene of the worst terrorist attack in our nation's soil, and the magnitude of the devastation overwhelmed him. The normally outspoken and opinionated Pastor Rick Del Rio had nothing to say. Nothing.
So instead of talking, he rolled up his sleeves and got busy helping fire and rescue workers dig through debris and assemble a triage unit across the street from the Pile. But mostly he prayed, usually under his breath but loud enough for others to hear when they requested him.
Many of them did, beginning with the first person he saw after parking his motorcycle a few blocks south. A uniformed worker approached carrying a body bag. "Father," he cried. "Please bless these body parts."
Rather than debate whether he should pray for the deceased, my dad did the best he could and prayed for the families and the safety of the rescue workers. Then he went back to sweeping, digging, lifting, serving.
Along the way he learned something that transformed how he, a preacher and evangelist, approaches ministry -- especially in times of crisis. Sometimes the Gospel is best shared not by what we say but by how we live. When the unthinkable happens and lives are needlessly shattered and horrific mysteries defy explanation, pat answers and cliche Christianity wilts away. What matters in crisis is whether we have the courage to show up, endure to the end -- whatever the end might be -- and exhibit character and compassion throughout the process.
The Kingdom of God arrived on earth as it is in heaven in the person of Jesus thirty years before He ever opened his mouth to preach. He lived among the people he hoped to save, serving them and earning the right to be heard when the time finally came to reason together.
When crises come like the horrors that visited Virginia Tech yesterday, Christ's Kingdom requires its ambassadors to be present and available. Serve. Grieve. Comfort those who mourn. Create space for healing. And persevere until the end.
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In September 2006, a high school shooting in Bailey, Colorado resulted in the deaths of the gunman and one of his student hostages, Emily Keyes. Following her death, Emily's family requested mourners to offer random acts of kindness in her memory:
"In memory of Emily, we would like everyone to go out and do random acts of kindness, random acts of love to your friends or your neighbors or your fellow students because there is no way to make sense of this. It's what Emily would have wanted."What's so incredible is how that very request was the legacy of another student victim of a school shooting. Three days prior to the Bailey incident, approximately eighty teens from five youth groups had attended a Chain Reaction Weekend at New Covenant Fellowship in Larkspur, Colorado. Several of the students who participated in the weekend attended Emily's school and were there on Tuesday when she was killed. As they mourned her death, they decided to honor her life by doing random acts. Emily's parents amplified their message, which was carried around the world. It was full-circle for Matt Stevens, who named Chain Reaction in tribute to Rachel Joy Scott, the first Columbine victim. Days before the Columbine massacre, Rachel had written:
“I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion then it will start a chain reaction of the same.â€ÂFollowing Bailey, and later the Amish school shooting which was similarly met with a compassionate response from the families victimized by that horror, Matt has been wondering how to create a culture of compassion that would intercept broken lives before they become crazed gunmen. One a personal level, are random acts of kindness the answer? On a community level, could Adopt-a-School make a difference? On a congregational level, could initiatives like Chain Reaction serve a catalytic affect? On a policy level ... we'll leave that one alone for now. What say you?
Related
+ Rachel's Challenge -- Rachel Scott's legacy + I Love You Guys Foundation -- Emily Keyes' Legacy + Chain ReactionTopics: 9-11, chain reaction, compassion, culture, emily keyes, news, rachel scott, school shootings, violence, virginia tech, youth | 1 Comment »
April 17th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
so how could of a culture of compassion changed this situation?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266582,00.html