Bless the children

Voices of silenced must be heard

Aquick look at the list of school shootings in the United States reveals a lot about our nation and culture. People have been killed by guns at schools in our nation since before our nation was a nation. The first documented school shooting was on July 26, 1764, referred to as the “Ecnoch Brown school massacre” during Pontiac’s War. Four Delaware (Lenape) Indians entered a schoolhouse near present-day Greencastle, Penn., and nine children were killed.

And then, the way in which one could shoot another person changed. Possibly the way that some Americans view others — and killing — also changed, resulting in 23 school shooting incidents. In every case, a young person — in some cases a very young person — was a victim of an act of hatred.

My heart breaks for the children who we have lost — the children who were someone’s daughter or son. And it makes me angry. It makes me angry that we, as Americans, haven’t done more to protect our children. It makes me angry that these blessings that God has given us are not valued enough for all of us to prioritize them — and to listen to them.

Matthew 19:13-15 reads: “Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.”

Jesus blessed the children. He touched them. When Christ’s disciples thought perhaps the children were a waste of Jesus’ valuable time, Jesus prioritized the children. Near Nazareth is Rachel’s tomb — probably not where Rachel was really buried — a place has been made holy by the prayers of Muslim, Jewish and Christian women who cry with Rachel, “whose children are no more.”

When I was a little girl, I was told, “Children are to be seen and not heard.” I don’t think that thought came from Jesus. Children have been silenced for too long.

This is a broken and fearful world. This is a very fearful time, when many — including those from outside our country — would have us be even more fearful and mistrusting of one another. It also means empowering students to sit at the table where their voices can be heard in places of power and decision-making.

Jesus did not push the children away as his disciples would have had him do. What Jesus did was bless them. He blessed them with his presence. He blessed them by prioritizing his time to include them. He blessed them by touching them, even as he had touched others and healed illnesses and demons.

What would blessing the children look like today if we had the courage to hear them?