A couple of months ago, as I tucked our first grader into bed, her soft heart posed a hard question —
“Are there really bad guys with guns who shoot people?”
As those heavy words hung in the air, I felt her innocence hanging there too. Our little girl, clutching her kangaroo and blankie, sought big truth about her world. I had to get this one right.
So we talked about good guys.
I assured her we are surrounded by good guys — people who help and protect and love. Mommy and daddy are good guys. Our family and friends and neighbors are good guys. Police officers are good guys. The list goes on.
“Always stick with the good guys,” I nudged.
We did not go much deeper. Hearing a seven-year-old say “active assailant” was deep enough. She deserved a sense of safety as she drifted off to dreamland.
I closed her bedroom door, feeling immense gratitude for our daughter… and immense pissed-off-ness for bad guys with guns who shoot people.
I have walked the schoolyard of Columbine, peeking through windows with a lump in my throat. I have stood on the perimeter of Pulse, wondering what song played inside those walls as evil stepped on the dance floor. I have visited Ground Zero, attempting to fathom that unfathomable September day.
We grow up, and we learn bad guys are real. And for reasons I will never comprehend, their hatred takes aim at unsuspecting, sacred spaces.
As I kissed our first grader goodnight that evening, I couldn’t help but think of Sandy Hook. On December 13, 2012, twenty families kissed their first graders goodnight for the last time. They had no idea their babies would be sleeping in heavenly peace the next day. It crumbles my heart. Our children are supposed to go to school to learn, not to die.
I wish things could be different. I wish Eden’s stupid, slimy snake had slithered into traffic rather than into humankind’s story. And as much as I wish it wasn’t true… we live in a broken world. So what do we do with the mess?
We stick with the good guys.
We help and protect and love.
We remember the hope of a baby in a Bethlehem manger, born to save us from the mess.
And tonight, we hug our families a little tighter.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” [John 1:5]