Amish children

[kanyon]

The Christian world is saddened by the unspeakable events that took the lives of young school girls while at school

I am a member of a mennonite brethern forum.

One of the members talked about prayer that went up from their prayer room.

She also prayed and I cut and pasted the prayer because it was so moving and I believe a prayer for the whole church...

C&P

I, too, am saddened and appalled. At prayer meeting last night we, of course, prayed for the families and community affected. One person also prayed for the mother of the gunman. What mother could stand the thought of her own child doing such a thing? I understand he also has a wife and kids. Lord, have mercy upon them. May the spirit of unforgiveness, bitterness and revenge which overcame this man be kept far away from all the participants in this drama.

Thank you, Lord, for the community leaders who immediately confessed their need to forgive. Lord, save the wounded ones: the ones physically wounded and those emotionally and mentally wounded. Do not let the shooter's gender bias gain any ground in any direction as a result of the publicity of his alleged motives.

Have mercy upon our continent, O Lord, for there seems to be a spirit of death, destruction and suicide abroad in Canada and the US. It is especially disturbing in its connection to schools which should be safe places of learning, nurture and mentoring.

Lord, in the beginning, you gave mankind authority and responsibility to govern in the earth. But Satan was also cast down to the earth and is called the prince or god of this world. You have clearly told us our struggle is not against other flesh and blood humans, but against principalities and powers of wickedness in the unseen realms. So, Lord Jesus, Mighty King, we today take up our armour and our weapon of the Word and with it, the quick and powerful sword which discerns thoughts and intentions, we now pierce the spiritual enemies of your children who are created in your image and likeness. By your Word, we declare that Jesus has come to destroy the works of the devil. By your word we declare that you are light which overcomes the darkness; that nothing is hidden from your all-seeing eye. We acknowledge that you have said that what we, in agreement, bind on earth is as bound in the heavens. So we bind in our continent the evil spirits of unforgiveness, death, violence and suicide. We agree with your word which has assigned them to a place in the lake of fire, and not in the hearts and minds of humans. Lord, may thousands of your children rise up in their spirits to say "No, these wicked spirits of darkness shall not continue to abound in our land. We release the Spirit of the Living God in our own hearts, our own churches, our own communities - the spirit of forgiveness, righteousness, life and light which overcomes the darkness."

[kanyon]

Further to this thread...Forgiveness

C&P

A 'God Blog' that was sent to me today:

Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Diana Butler Bass: 'What if the Amish were in charge of the war on terror?'
I confess: Over the last 10 days, I did not pay much attention to the Amish school shooting. As the mother of an 8-year old girl, I find school violence stories too painful to follow.
Despite attempts to avoid this particular news, the stories of the Amish practice of forgiveness eventually captivated me. Their practice of forgiveness unfolded in four public acts over the course of a week. First, some elders visited Marie Roberts, the wife of the murderer, to offer forgiveness. Then, the families of the slain girls invited the widow to their own children’s funerals. Next, they requested that all relief monies intended for Amish families be shared with Roberts and her children. And, finally, in an astonishing act of reconciliation, more than 30 members of the Amish community attended the funeral of the killer.
As my husband and I talked about the spiritual power of these actions, I commented in an offhanded way, “It is an amazing witness to the peace tradition.” He looked at me and said passionately, “Witness? I don’t think so. This went well past witnessing. They weren’t witnessing to anything.
They were actively making peace.”
He was right. Their actions not only witness that the Christian God is a God of forgiveness, but they actively created the conditions in which forgiveness could happen. In the most straightforward way, they embarked on imitating Christ: “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.” In acting as Christ, they did not speculate on forgiveness. They forgave. And forgiveness is, as Christianity teaches, the prerequisite to peace. We forgive because God forgave us; in forgiving, we participate in God’s dream of reconciliation and shalom.
Then an odd thought occurred to me: What if the Amish were in charge of the war on terror? What if, on the evening of Sept. 12, 2001, we had gone to Osama bin Laden’s house (metaphorically, of course, since we didn’t know where he lived!) and offered him forgiveness? What if we had invited the families of the hijackers to the funerals of the victims of 9/11? What if a portion of The September 11th Fund had been dedicated to relieving poverty in a Muslim country? What if we dignified the burial of their dead by our respectful grief?
What if, instead of seeking vengeance, we had stood together in human pain, looking honestly at the shared sin and sadness we suffered? What if we had tried to make peace?
So, here’s my modest proposal. We’re five years too late for an Amish response to 9/11. But maybe we should ask them to take over the Department of Homeland Security. After all, actively practicing forgiveness and making peace are the only real alternatives to perpetual fear and a multi-generational global religious war.
I can’t imagine any other path to true security. And nobody else can figure out what to do to end this insane war. Why not try the Christian practice of forgiveness? If it worked in Lancaster, maybe it will work in Baghdad, too.
Diana Butler Bass is an independent scholar and author. '

Should it just be the Amish who forgive like this or all of us. Could you forgive the killer?