Last night hundreds of thousands of people, most of them young, went to see the midnight premiere of the new Batman movie. But in Aurora, Colorado, (far too close for this mama’s comfort) the viewers going into one particular theater had no idea that the drama they would experience wouldn’t be on the big screen. They would be living it. And for some, dying it.
My heart broke this morning as I heard and read about the tragic shooting that occurred, leaving (at last count) 12 dead and dozens of others injured. My head immediately went to the parents of the unsuspecting victims who must have gotten the phone call in the middle of the night that no parent ever wants to receive. Parents who said goodbye to their teens last night when they left for a super hero movie, not knowing it would be their last conversation. Siblings and grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and friends who were robbed of a loved one. People’s lives were turned upside down forever in a matter of seconds. And they had absolutely no say in it.
But then my mind shifted to perhaps an even more tragic scenario, if that is possible. I tried to imagine the thoughts and feelings of the parents of the shooter. The devastation of knowing that your child had taken the lives of so many innocent people and had thereby destroyed the lives of countless others.
In the coming days and weeks as I’m prompted to pray for those who are walking around with a hole in their chest created by their grief and loss, I will try to remember to also pray for the loved ones of the young man who has done this damage. That they might experience a peace that doesn’t make sense and that God would grant them the ability to cope and move on even if there are no answers.
Jesus, we beg for Your comfort. We long for Your love. And we thank You that You are the Answer when there aren’t any. You are our Hope when all hope is gone. You are Life when the life has been knocked right out of us. Hear our cries and heal our hearts…
