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Amish Reach out in Love
By Julie | September 19, 2007
October 2, 2006 was a tragic, terrible day. One deranged man boarded up an Amish school house, held ten young girls captive by tying them up at the blackboard. When the ordeal was over authorities discovered the abductor had intended to molest the girls before committing suicide. He did take his own life, and the lives of 5 girls. But authorities say he did not molest them as he planned.
What followed was an amazing account of traumatized parents, friends and families saying they forgave the gunman, and held no ill feelings toward the family of the shooter. In an era of million dollar law suits for something as silly as spilled coffee in our laps, an entire community sought forgiveness for a man who bound, planned sexual acts against, and then killed their very own children.
I wonder, could I have been so gracious? Only hours after discovering their most precious, innocent had been senselessly killed, could I have asked forgiveness as I mourned their loss? I would like to think so. But as so many simpler things in life rattle me, I look to this community as role models, because I honestly don’t think I would’ve handled the tragedy with such grace.
I’ve heard it said that if you forgive someone it shows weakness. Yet, listening to the news and hearing the determination to forgive a nightmare come to life, I saw only strength. Incredible strength I’ve rarely seen equaled in any American tragedy. These Amish people did not seek the limelight. They didn’t go on Good Morning American to recall their horrific experience. They quietly tended to the needs of the survivors who were injured physically, helped those who were scarred mentally, and prepared the bodies of their dead for burial.
It is one of the truest forms of Christianity I have ever witnessed, nearly as Christ-like as a human can achieve. God the Father forgave those who sacrificed his own son on a cross. This Amish community forgave a man who sacrificed their most innocent for no reason. Then they reached out to the family of the man who took the lives of their children, and asked for forgiveness for them as well.
It could be argued the shooter’s family was innocent and thus should not be involved in the sins of this man. But, when something heinous happens in our society, we always question the family. We ask, what did his family do to make him such a monster? Why didn’t his parents know what was being planned? Surely his wife was blind to have not seen the warning signs. How often have we speculated, and judged families of victimizers who really needed someone to reach out to them, as they are struggled with the same questions and found no answers. I can’t imagine the horror it must be for a family member to face the truth of a loved one injuring another. It must be indescribable, the pain they feel. Yet, in most major tragedies I recall this country facing, the families were condemned because they should have known, rather than comforted in their sorrows as I’m sure they so desperately longed for.
The Amish, in their incredible suffering, did it right. They sought no condemnation, but asked people to reach out in love.
Last week they reached out with even more, as stated here…
An Amish community that lost five girls in a Pennsylvania schoolhouse shooting massacre last year has donated money to the widow of the gunman, the community said Wednesday.
The Nickel Mines Accountability Committee, which was set up to handle more than $4.3 million in donations from around the world after the shootings, said it had given an unspecified “contribution” to Marie Roberts, a mother of three.
Her husband, Charles Carl Roberts, a local milk truck driver who was not Amish, tied up and shot 10 Amish schoolgirls aged 6 to 14 in their classroom last Oct. 2, killing five of them before turning the gun on himself.
In such a time when so many people stand for nothing, and fight some battle to prove God does not even exist, these Amish victims have taught us the true nature of God. They did it without writing a book, being interviewed on a talk show, or posing for the front cover of a magazine. They are true examples of showing God’s love through their actions, and asking for nothing in return.
Someday I hope I can say as much as they have without saying a word.
Topics: Encouragement, Faith, In the News | No Comments »
