Are We Bleeding Out?
Brokenness defines us, surrounds us and refines us.
A world watches complacent and numb
While life passes without a second glance.
Daily events interrupt elusive peace, but many of us turn the other way.
I ask again, are we bleeding out?
When school shootings fill your newsfeed, does your heart stop?
Violence becomes ordinary in those moments we keep scrolling as if we don’t notice or don’t want to be bothered.
[Tweet “We have a heart issue that causes bleeding out when we scroll past violence as if we don’t notice.”]
As a former teacher, there is so much I want to say. I always assured my students that school was a safe place. Instead, this week another school shooting filled my newsfeed. My heart broke and the words I spoke to my students came back to haunt me.
Schools should always feel safe. School shootings should never feel commonplace and we should believe we can do something to stop the violence.
I know people are already divided on whether it is a gun issue or a mental health issue or perhaps both. But what I know is that it is a heart issue. We are bleeding out and it looks like:
Acceptance of violence as natural and commonplace
Turning the other way
Placing the blame on everyone but not accepting any personal responsibility
Selling out, giving up or allowing the brokenness to win
We succumb to exhaustion, become apathetic and lose the motivation to look twice and actually see.
In Luke 8, we learn the story of the woman who had been bleeding for years. She saw Jesus ahead surrounded by a crowd of people. The woman pushed forward, believing deep in her heart that if she could just reach and touch the hem of his garment, she would be healed. Jesus knew the minute the woman touched Him. Trembling she stepped forward, and Jesus told her not to be afraid that her faith had healed her.
When our hearts turn toward Jesus, we see things more clearly. The deep secrets are no longer covered in darkness because Jesus gently brings them into the light. If we let the light fill the dark places of our hearts, we find an awareness and acceptance inside we didn’t know we had.
Our world struggles with seeking truth, the One truth, found in God. As a people we live with hardened hearts steeling ourselves against the many voices vying for our attention. All I know is that any kind of violence is not okay. As a teacher, my inner momma bear comes out when I hear news that innocent children are subjected to violence. I don’t have the answers for this senselessness, but I know my heart aches.
I am standing on the truth that:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k]neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
With God all things are possible!
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
Photo by John Peters on Unsplash
Mary, thank you for these words. May we tend, each to our own hearts, and ask the Lord to stir us. To continue to break our hearts with what breaks His. May we not become desensitized to violence. May we pour love into the lives of children around us. And may we pray continually for the Lord to bring wisdom and healing to our brokenness.
Thank you for your prayer, Joanne! My heart hurts as a mom and as a former teacher. I just don’t understand the “why” behind this kind of violence. I do know that we have a mighty God who loves us no matter what and who would love for His love to spread to others. I appreciate you and your heart for pointing us to God.
Thank You! I love this post friend.
Thank you! I love when you stop by!
I am encouraged to see students rise up in their grief. Thankfully, they are not bleeding out, they are standing up and saying enough.
A little child shall lead them.
And it’s teachers like you, Mary, that have offered them safe havens and sharpened minds where they could mature and become leaders. For such a time as this.
God bless them.
As much as kids have a resiliency in these situations, I pray that they do not continue to be exposed to violence and senseless killing. The only bleeding out I see is the reaction of people to horrific events. It’s almost as if they are becoming too commonplace and we are becoming numb.
So important in these day that can be so dark, that we continue to be ambassadors of our King and shine the hope of His kingdom to come.
Darkness tries to take over but we have an eternal light in Jesus. It will never grow dark because He shines the light of hope into the middle of despair. The victory has already been won!
Praying along with you Mary. Oh, Lord Jesus, have mercy on our children!
There is power in prayer and strength when people join together and come before God. May God protect His children and may we approach Him with faith and confidence
I am praying with you Mary. Prayer is a powerful way to start. God is in the heart-changing business, may we as His people abide and share His love and Good News for all.
I love that God is in the heart-changing business. I am praying that we may be confident and grace-filled in sharing our faith with others. Thank you for stopping by.
My husband is a teacher, and we’ve seen so many changes in school environments over the past 25 years. I echo your prayer that we would never become so accustomed to violence that we lose our sense of horror when it happens.
I’m glad you reminded me that your husband is a teacher. I loved teaching but my heart hurts for these kiddos and the challenges teachers are face with daily. Thank you for joining me in prayer. It is needed!
We’re not bleeding out. We’ve long since exsanguinated, and violence is merely a symptom.
We allowed God to be kicked out of our schools and the public square, based on some very questionable interpretations of the Establishment Clause by the Warren court…and we’ve supported politicians who backed those decisions. Politicians of BOTH parties, whose only real interest was the furtherance of their careers.
We’ve supported a free internet that trades in perversion, from sexual to cruelty to animals, in the name of ‘free speech’ and tolerance.
We’ve kowtowed to those who claim microaggression, while ignoring or coddling those with real mental problems and the potential for (or already demonstrated history of) violence.
We’ve turned celebrities into role models, overlooking their blatantly self-serving viewpoint.
This is going to take a long time fixing, and the fix will return the US to the 1950s. No one wants THAT, so more kids are going to die.
But that’s just wastage.
You have definitely been thinking about this, Andrew! There is something so disconcerting about keeping God out of schools. We ask for prayers when faced with horrific events but we miss out when we keep those same prayers out of schools and out of the mouths of the kids who need them. I agree that there is not an easy fix and it will take more time than my lifetime at this rate. But we can’t go on feeling apathetic toward violence of any kind.
Thank you for your insight today!