A Powerful Example of Forgiveness

"They don't balance the hurt with hate."
The sign above the chalkboard read "Visitors Brighten People's Days." Scattered around the room were 11 people hurt or killed in the gunfire. Five students were killed, five injured and their assailant, Charles Karl Roberts, lay dead by his own gun. Another of the girls who was injured has since died.

The Amish school shooting was the most horrific of a recent spate of terrifying incidents. But is has already turned from a story of death to a story of forgiveness. You have no doubt read that the Amish farmers of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania began reaching out to the family of the killer soon after the attack on the one-room schoolhouse.

The Amish are so different in their practice of Christianity, that it would be easy to shrug off their actions as unreal. Yet, these are real people, suffering some real deep shock and grief. In an Associated Press article on the shooting, Gertrude Huntington, a researcher on Amish children and society said, "The hurt is very great. But they don't balance the hurt with hate."

In another report on the funeral, the mid-wife who helped birth several of the girls was quoted in response the killer's wife, Marie Roberts, attending one of the funerals, "I'm sure it will help with the healing process. "She's grieving for the victims' families. The victims' families are grieving for her."

The same news article gave a humbling detail of what took place inside the school according to survivors. The 13 year old who was eldest of the girls told the killer to shoot him first. The article says,

Marian faced death with remarkable bravery, according to dramatic new details that emerged yesterday after one of five surviving witnesses was removed from a ventilator and could speak again.

"Shoot me first," the girl told Roberts, bravely offering up her life in an attempt to save her terrified younger classmates.

Then another of the older girls stepped up and said, "You can shoot me second," according to Mennonite midwife Rita Rhoads.

"They were hoping maybe if they offered themselves, the younger girls would either be saved or rescued in time," Rhodes said. "It really showed a tremendous amount of courage. It's really amazing that girls of that age would offer themselves up. I know a lot of adults who wouldn't do that."

The story of what happened in the school and the forgiveness that follows is so clearly a Christ-like example. The deep, abiding faith of the Amish made the acts of courage and forgiveness possible. I am humbled by their actions.

peace,

Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor + King of Peace Episcopal Church