By Josh Weidmann
April 20, 1999. It was my junior year of high school in Littleton, Colorado. I was glued to the TV watching SWAT teams surround Columbine High School, only a mile or so from my house. The agony of watching people I know and love mourn for their children—that’s an image no one can ever forget.
The tragedy of Columbine was one of the catalysts for my preaching ministry as countless classmates wondered where to find hope amid such loss. Now, as a pastor and biblical counselor in the Denver area, I’ve stood with people personally affected by the Aurora theater shooting (2012), the STEM high school shooting (2019) only a few miles away from Columbine, and the King Soopers grocery store shooting (2021) in nearby Boulder, where 10 people were slain—the same number killed in another grocery store massacre, this time in Buffalo, New York.
It’s been over 20 years since Columbine, and mass shootings have sadly become expected. Grocery stores, movie theaters, malls, workplaces, churches: the list of massacre sites is staggering. My own five children are now old enough to watch the news and notice when a “breaking news” alert ominously comes across the ticker, or shows up on their phone.
“Dad,” they ask, “what’s going on?”
As parents, we need to be ready for these conversations. Here are four talking points to consider when your kids ask questions about mass shootings. Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment