Is Any Place Safe? Sadly, No

I've not had much time to follow the tragedy of today's elementary school shooting in Connecticut, but here are a few quick thoughts in its wake.

Few things strike us as painfully as the loss of children; we see Jesus love them in the New Testament and, as parents, we love them and would do all we can to keep them safe. Unfortunately, "safe" can become an idol, which shootings like the one in Connecticut reinforce.

In the next few days, we'll hear calls for more security and cries for more training - just like after Columbine, just like after Virginia Tech. Safety at all costs will be both the goal and the solution, but even with new safety protocols the Connecticut school district had just implemented, "safety" was not enough.

The simple fact is this: As long as evil still exists, none of our kids are truly ever "safe." It's not the way it's supposed to be, but it is the way it is.

This, of course, doesn't mean we as parents and administrators don't try. Like the doors in your home, we have locks on ours at school; as you keep tabs on your kids when they're outside, so do we when they're with us; similar to how you watch who has access to your kids, we do the same. We run "stranger danger" drills, we ask those we don't recognize to identify themselves, and we train staff to never leave kids alone.

Indeed, we pursue safety, but accurate thinking on safety is in degrees, not absolutes. Thinking more this way keeps us from being overconfident that, because we have locks on the doors and have run drills, nothing bad should ever happen. Walking our halls, I'm much more vigilant because I DON'T believe we're totally secure than I would be if I mistakenly thought we were. Despite our best measures, no school is "safe," and this should motivate us to do all we can to be "as safe as we can."

But none of us does it perfectly and, regardless of how safe we want to make this broken world, there's only so much we can do this side of God's complete restoration of it. I don't pretend to understand God's hand in this, another school shooting, but when I consider the extent and depth of our human depravity, I'm frankly amazed it doesn't happen more than it does. As much as some may want to blame God for the former, I choose to give Him credit for the latter.

Pray for the families in Connecticut. And pray for our Veritas families that, yes, our kids would be safe, but also that we would recognize how limited, vulnerable, and dependent we are on the God at work restoring the world we have so badly broken.