How I’m praying about school shootings
Originally appeared online in the teen series: Trending - February 18, 2020
Another school shooting. I was working on my homework when the notification popped up on my computer. While I was upset, this news was no surprise; these attacks had taken place regularly in the United States throughout my childhood, and I was almost desensitized to the violence. However, this particular tragedy suddenly became a frightening reality when I learned that some of my classmates had known one of the victims. In the months that followed, I started to feel paranoid and powerless, and this fear only escalated when the news broke that there had been yet another school shooting elsewhere in the country.
A few weeks later, I was attending a testimony meeting at my local branch Church of Christ, Scientist, when a woman shared something that really helped me. This woman’s dog had been poisoned by a neighbor, and though the woman prayed diligently for the dog for several days, the situation soon seemed hopeless—like the dog was going to pass away.
She sent her young daughter to say goodbye, only to be shocked when, moments later, the girl trotted back happily with the dog—who had been completely healed. When the woman asked her daughter what had happened, the girl explained that she had prayed for the neighbor, not the dog.
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