The Value of a Life

This past week, we here in northeast Ohio were tragically in the news as a shooter took the lives of three young men, still in their prime. We have all been impressed by how the people have rallied around the families and the community of Chardon. The shooter, a young man by the name of T.J. Lane chose these victims somewhat at random. Most of the stories in the press have focused on either the shooter or the community.

What you rarely hear about in the press however is how our society allows for the cheapening of life. To a shooter like Lane, there has to be a dehumanizing of life. Why would he just randomly shoot people? Because he doesn't value life. That a human being is created in God's image and is to be treasured. A 17 year old lives in a dream world, often consumed with violent computer games where a life is fiction. They often then come to the realization after the fact that life is not fiction. He snuffed out three kids that had their whole lives ahead of them. It is a sad reality that Lane did not see them as human beings, but as some way to express rage, much like the artificial reality around him.

How do we contract that? By upholding the value of life, by emphasizing the incredible importance of relationships and how they do matter. People come together in a tragedy like this. We see the best of people and the worst of people. People come to a realization that life can be gone in an instant. We are proud of how the Chardon community rallied around each other as well as the whole area. I hope and pray that this will have sustainable change - that we can truly value the nature of a person and the strength that can be established by relationships. I pray we can burst the inner turmoil bubble of the next kid like T.J. Lane to intercept the potential next crisis.

A least one advocate has now asked for metal detectors in every entrance to school. To achieve this level of security would cost several billion dollars. But then what about the bus, the parking lot, etc? We remember one incident recently where a student turned on the fire alarm and then picked off students coming into parking lot. No, what is needed is lasting change which can only happen internally and supernaturally. We need to be more attune to what is happening around us and to people we value.

Our prayers are with you Chardon!