Last year’s school shooting

In the awful eclipse of tragedy by tragedy, it’s easy to forget that on October 2, 2006, a one-room Amish school was victimized in the same horrible way that Virginia Tech was last week. U.S. News has a great story on how the people around Lancaster County, PA are coping six months on.

The overwhelming response by the Amish to the shooting has been forgiveness, and the article dwells on this point:

The forgiveness here “wasn’t an aberration,” Kraybill said during a recent interview. “To a person, the Amish would argue that forgiveness is the central teaching of Jesus. They will take you to the Lord’s Prayer-if you don’t forgive, you won’t be forgiven.”

I grew up in Holmes County, Ohio, which has a strong Amish population. Living so close to Amish people makes it easy to pick on their apparent legalism - they don’t own cars but they ride in them; they have no phones in their homes, but use cell phones - but it sure is hard to argue with people who follow Christ by taking forgiveness so seriously.

Thanks to PreachingToday.com for pointing me to this article.

April 24, 2007 · Filed Under Christ, Discipleship

Comments

2 Responses to “Last year’s school shooting”

  1. Kristen on April 25th, 2007 8:32 am

    Amen! What a lesson!

    Also, the Amish are smart people. They don’t spend their entire lives striving for insignificant possessions, but they can still enjoy the benefits of such possessions. :) :D

  2. John on April 25th, 2007 4:08 pm

    Their attitude toward possessions reminds me of Jesus Himself, St. Francis, and the earliest Christians (Acts 2). It also reminds me of how the Native Americans viewed the natural world–unable to be owned but more than able to be shared, enjoyed, and used to the fullest.

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