On Monday 2nd October, 2006 Charles Carl Roberts, a 32-year-old dairy truck driver dropped his children off at a school bus stop and headed for the Amish school armed with three guns and 600 rounds of ammunition. What a bizarre sequence of facts! On the one hand he seems to be a responsible/loving father who dropped his own children at a school bus stop and on the other hand he is a cold and cruel killer.
What the Amish community did in response to such horrible act is totally unthinkable, something which no natural man can understand or grasp. How can they forgive a cruel killer like Roberts and actually extend their hand to help his family deal with this pain? To be very honest I do not think I have the courage or the character to do what these people have done, they have demonstrated the highest virtue at one of the lowest points of their history as a community. They have proved that they are truly in the world but not of it.
The Amish reacted with love and forgiveness and reached out to the shooter’s family, knowing that disaster happens and that life goes on.
Bill Davis in his article “A lesson from the Amish” published in USA Today website notes “When a school shooting occurs in mainstream society, we all react with fear and judgment, asking “Why?” and “What can we do to prevent this from happening again?” The Amish reacted with love and forgiveness and reached out to the shooter’s family, knowing that disaster happens and that life goes on. Mainstream society marches out the counselors; the Amish come together to talk about their grief and loss. Mainstream society puts bars on windows and installs metal detectors; the Amish will continue with life as it is.” In the words of Robert F Kennedy “Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live.” It’s important we pause and learn our lessons for a better future.
“Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live.” – Robert F Kennedy
I do not want to pretend that I understand how they could have done this, but from my understanding there are three important convictions that can produce a response like this. 1. A strong faith in God’s sovereignty and his control over human life. 2. A deep understanding and necessity of forgiveness. 3. An intentional choice to move on with life without being consumed by anger or bitterness towards people.
Let me highlight a couple of important lessons I have learnt from this tragedy. Lesson 1: It is reported that Robert was haunted by the death of his daughter who died 20 minutes after her premature birth nine years ago. He had unresolved emotions like anger and bitterness that drove him crazy and in this case made him a mad man. It is important to understand that unresolved emotions are like landmines, you do not see any harm on the outside but if you step on them, it results into great destruction. Suppressed feelings always have the potential to cause a greater damage beyond imagination at a later stage in life. Lesson 2: Forgiveness is never easy but it’s always necessary to move forward. We have to understand that we cannot force to change emotions instantly; it takes a long time to change how we feel about someone who inflicted pain or violated us.
The story of Joseph in the Bible is a classic example of forgiveness. His brothers deliberately abused him and sold him as a slave, lied to their father that he was killed by an animal. After several years his brothers come to him for food because of the famine in their land. Joseph instead of taking revenge says ““Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done”. Though it was clear that his brothers harmed him, Joseph was able to see how God turning this injustice into an opportunity to bless others. When Nelson Mandela was released from the prison after 27 years he said “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.” He later said “Forgiveness liberates the soul, it removes fear. That’s why it’s such a powerful weapon”.
“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.” – Nelson Mandela
– – Author: Rev. Francis Burgula – –
