Wow. What a month,
eh? Obama out, Trump in, anger
everywhere, and yet another school shooting. Sadly, you probably didn’t hear about the school
shooting because it occurred on Inauguration Day. There are a couple reasons why I am bringing
up the school shooting. First, it
happened at a high school which I attended in a very small community in rural
Ohio. The second reason centers on the
actions of the victim of the shooting.
He is a young man named Logan Cole.
Logan took two 12 gauge shotgun blasts at point blank range. While Logan was laying face down on the floor,
he was talking to the shooter asking and begging him to not cause any further
injury to anyone at the school or to himself. Logan convinced the shooter not to hurt anyone
else.
Logan has approximately 70-80 pellets lodged in his body;
one of them is in the right side of his heart.
Two are in his spinal canal.
There are multiple fractures and breaks in his backbone and his right
lung is damaged form the pellets. The
risk of infection is of great concern. As Logan was coming out of sedation in the ICU,
one of the first things he did was to ask his parents to pray for the shooter. Continually, from the first interview until
now, the family of Logan Cole has called for prayers, not only for Logan, but
also for the family of the shooter. The
donation funds to support Logan Cole will be divided between a college fund for
Logan, the high school, and to support the family of the shooter. Throughout this horrific event, the Cole
family has chosen to be an example of how Christians are supposed to live. Their forgiveness and concern for others have
demonstrated their unshakable faith and have provided a model of true
Christianity in action.
I’ve spent some time in reflection of how I would probably
react if this situation had happened in my family. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but I don’t
think forgiveness would be the first option I would exercise. Would I have immediate compassion for the
shooter’s family? Yes, definitely. But would I have immediate forgiveness for
the shooter? In all honesty? Probably not. It would probably take me a while to decide to
forgive the shooter. As I have discovered
over the past four years, it sure is easier to forgive the little things in
life than it is to forgive the big ones. Some days immediate forgiveness comes easily and other days, I completely mess it up. Every day, I’m working on making my actions reflect how Christians are supposed to act. Because in the end, it is our actions that matter; it's our actions that the world sees. The Cole family, through their actions, have shown the world true Christianity in action. I want to aspire to follow their example of faith in action.
“Everything is easier said than done. Wanting something is easy. Saying something is easy. The challenge and the reward are in the
doing.” Dr. Steve Maraboli
