We offer our prayers to the grieving families of the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas. In the words of Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors Coach) ‘we should never become numb to this’. This horrific loss of life should touch our hearts and souls as we stand in disbelief at the tragedy.
No more will their lunches find the way into schoolbags as a new day’s adventure beckons.
No more will the school yard echo their footsteps running through.
No more will their smiling faces emerge from the classroom to eagerly go home to share their day with family.
It is a soul-piercing sorrow beyond words. Humanity should cry out collectively for justice that this may never occur again. It is almost 60 years since Martin Luther King Jr talked about freedom for all. Our children are not free. How can they be free if they go to school and are gunned down? Children should be free to play and learn and grow and develop. The time has come for the world to turn a new page and make sure this never happens again. God grant us the courage to change that which can be changed, and the resolution to persist until it is a reality for all.
In some regards we allow ourselves to be numb. Numbness is a safety net when we just cant cope. But numbness also stops us from acting. This is a tragedy beyond words. We simply have to act. HAVE TO!!! We cannot accept this as ok or as something that happens occasionally, NO. We avoid feeling to protect ourselves, but if we feel it maybe we will act to stop it.
We cannot look to those who have lost the most to make the change. We who look from outside and bemoan ‘how is this to be survived?’ need to push for change whilst enveloping those in the most dire grief in our collective love.
The Female Theologian 