How many times have you thought or said, "I cannot imagine what you/they are going through"?
We never think certain things will happen to us. They only happen to 'other people.' Right?
In Mark Yaconelli's book 'Between the Listening and The Telling' he shares about a tragic school shooting in 2015 at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. He was asked to come in and help people process their grief in the aftermath.
At one point he was talking to the mother of one of the victims. Mark told her he had a son the same age as hers, and that he cannot imagine what she is going through.
She says, "Yes you can. You just don't want to."
Think about that for a moment. ... ... ...
Mark writes:
"And maybe that was it. I was afraid of the grief, afraid of the meaninglessness. Some primal, protective instinct steered me away from the suffering. I wanted to keep my distance from the horror these families were experiencing."
I've never really thought about it like that. It's not that we can't. In fact, oftentimes in the face of tragedies, we do everything we CAN to not imagine what it's like for victims and those affected.
Maybe the world would be a better place if more of us did imagine.
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Romans 12:15-16
"Be joyful with those who are joyful. Be sad with those who are sad. Agree with one another. Don’t be proud. Be willing to be a friend of people who aren’t considered important. Don’t think that you are better than others."
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