“Stunned and speechless” seems to be my default state every time I turn on the news these days.
Just when I think it can’t get worse, somehow it does.
My capacity for outrage is sorely tested every time one person does violence to another… for whatever deranged reason.
I had been struggling to process the avalanche of revelations of sexual assault and harassment in the entertainment and news media recently when suddenly, out of the blue, a young man walked into a small-town church and shot 46 people, killing 26 of them.
“Stunned and speechless” yet again.
As I mulled over all of these “gut punch” events, I began to see a tragic connection between them. Whether the perpetrator is sexually exploiting people or killing them with a gun, each heinous act seems to grow from the same seed: the utter devaluation of the lives of others.
I have no idea what it will take to make it happen, but until we come to see every human life as God sees them: as precious, unique, beloved, and infinitely wonderful, we will probably continue to be stunned and speechless on a regular basis.
“As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
For he knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.”
- Psalm 103:13-14, NRSV
Russellings of the Spirit 
How a person gets to that point of devaluation is such a complex journey Russell. The journey is fraught with cultural landmines, psychological detours and familial stressors. In a spiritual sense, it may be why some envision demonic forces at work when things go wrong? So easy to simplify something that is so complex. Perhaps that cry for simplicity is one of the detours on the journey?