It’s Sunday night, and I have had a really good weekend. Celebrated my Dad’s 75th birthday, and spent Friday night and Saturday with a beloved cousin. It was a weekend surrounded by friends and family. And for that I am thankful.

But I am acutely mindful tonight that 17 families in Parkland, Florida, as well as their community, spent their weekend in a much different way. They spent the weekend grieving a horrific, unimaginable loss. Their world has been rocked, and their lives will never be the same.

Most of America has been tuned in to the media coverage of the shooting and its aftermath, and the name Nikolas Cruz is now cemented into our minds, just as the names Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were cemented into our minds following the shootings at Columbine High School in 1999.

It’s absolutely unimaginably devastating.

I had lunch after church today with my Bestie, and her 15-year-old daughter, whom I consider my “non-biological niece.” We spent the time talking about the events of this past week, and I heard this precious 15-year-old girl talk about the impact the numerous school shootings that have taken place in the past several years has had on her. We talked about fear. We talked about how divided our nation has become. We talked about grief. And we talked about what our response should be as believers in Jesus Christ.

I believe that as a Christ-follower, I am called first to pray. And by saying this, I do not mean sending a “thoughts and prayers” response out over social media. I mean going intentionally before the Creator of the universe and pleading as though my life depends on it. For the families of the victims. For the students who were traumatized. For our divided nation. For our government. For wisdom. For compassion. For courage. For all of us.

But I don’t believe that we can stop at prayer. Because we are also called to action. Jesus calls us to be his hands and feet, and this is where it gets hard. But I believe that the more we seek the heart of God, the clearer our next steps become. For me, I believe that this means advocating for meaningful gun reform. Because I believe that ultimately, violence and terror are “heart issues,” but that it should be much more difficult for an individual with the type of heart issue that Nikolas Cruz has to obtain an assault rifle and terrorize a school. And as a mental health professional, I believe that I am also called to advocate for improved access to mental health services, but to also speak out about the fact that the vast majority of people with mental health issues are not violent. In fact, individuals with mental health issues are much more likely to be victims of violent crime than they are to be perpetrators. And I feel compelled to share that message as well, in an effort to avoid further stigmatization of an already-vulnerable population.

So these are my next steps – the steps I feel called to take, and the areas I feel called to action. I pray for courage and direction and wisdom – and I pray that whatever action steps I take would be motivated by love. This is a time that, as Christ followers, we can truly do the hard things and respond in a way that reflects the heart of the one we serve. May we pray without ceasing, and act without hesitation. Because the world is hurting, and the world is watching.

Tagged: on Sunday, February 18, 2018 · 3 Comments »