This week was difficult. I imagine many of you felt that way, too.
Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was murdered on Wednesday at a college campus in Utah. That would have been enough. What complicates this is that multiple videos were posted on social media of that fateful moment he was shot and killed. These are images that our hearts and minds are not equipped to process naturally. What’s worse is that social media “reels” have an addictive quality, which can lead to hours of watching content that is disturbing and, to some degree, involuntary.
I fell prey to this cycle of watching endless hours of content, which likely depleted neurotransmitters typically used to function (i.e., be fully present with my family, choose a good book, or go for a walk), but instead left me feeling disconnected and hopeless. I dragged myself to church this morning, hoping the Pastors would talk about it – perhaps tell us how to process this tragedy from a Christian worldview. I didn’t realize it, but subconsciously I wanted them to be an extension of the social media binge I had been on for days.
Instead, service began as usual with worship and a message from the book of Mark. At the end, the Pastor asked us all to stay for a few extra minutes. He reiterated that this week was difficult: an assassination, a school shooting, and a murder that took place on public transportation (again, a video many people watched of someone losing their life). I had forgotten that there was more than one tragedy. No wonder my brain felt maxed out. Then the Pastor did what I had hoped. He told us exactly what we could do as we processed these tragedies individually and in community with each other. He suggested we do three things:
Remember that our hope is in Jesus.
Pray for our Nation.
Show the hope we have in our actions, starting at home and in our communities.
That’s it. Three simple things.
Here is one of the Worship songs we sang together as a Church. I hope it resonates with you and provides comfort in the Promise we have in Jesus.
