A good thing about Mormonism
Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2016 2:25 pm
So I guess many of you have heard about the recent stabbings at Mountain View High School in Orem. My son attends that school so we were thrown into the middle of the situation. (He was not involved but was shaken up.) But we didn't realize how "in the middle" we were.
At first I didn't know who the perpetrator was because the press isn't printing his name because he's a juvenile. But such things get around quickly in a smallish community. He's a boy in my neighborhood, right down the street. His parents are friends of mine. His sisters used to babysit my kids. My son used to play with him. I used to teach him in Primary.
There was no sign that anything like this would happen. He was a little odd, but a lot of us are "Aspy" (Asperger's syndrome) and just chalked it up to that. He was never mean or violent in any way. He and my son got along great and played all kinds of imaginative games together. He was home schooled because his mother is a very intelligent and creative woman and likes to give her children extra chances to be intelligent and creative. She has several children and they were all home schooled until high school.
As you might guess, the ward is in shock. Numb, I suppose, would be a good word. So our bishop brought us together Monday night for a special ward prayer. He spoke a few words about love and not judging and then turned the meeting over to a loved and well-respected older member of the ward who said a ten-minute prayer. He prayed for the entire family, but especially for the boy. He prayed for us that we would know what to do and how to help. His prayer was absolutely loving and sincere. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. Even my son was crying.
This is what I love about the church, the way it pulls us all together as a community, as a family. The parents were present at the meeting and they got to hear and see firsthand that they are loved and supported, and that their son is loved and supported. We cannot possibly understand why he did what he did, nor can we understand what they are going through. Some of us with mental illness in the family feel a kind of lingering dread, a "there but for the grace of God" feeling like a shadow on our lives. But all of us are saddened, sympathetic, and loving.
I read nasty horrible comments on the news stories written by people who don't know this kid, who don't know anyone who has been through a horror of this nature, and I feel doubly sad for their ignorance and their complacency. And in this instance I was very happy to have the community that is our ward family.
At first I didn't know who the perpetrator was because the press isn't printing his name because he's a juvenile. But such things get around quickly in a smallish community. He's a boy in my neighborhood, right down the street. His parents are friends of mine. His sisters used to babysit my kids. My son used to play with him. I used to teach him in Primary.
There was no sign that anything like this would happen. He was a little odd, but a lot of us are "Aspy" (Asperger's syndrome) and just chalked it up to that. He was never mean or violent in any way. He and my son got along great and played all kinds of imaginative games together. He was home schooled because his mother is a very intelligent and creative woman and likes to give her children extra chances to be intelligent and creative. She has several children and they were all home schooled until high school.
As you might guess, the ward is in shock. Numb, I suppose, would be a good word. So our bishop brought us together Monday night for a special ward prayer. He spoke a few words about love and not judging and then turned the meeting over to a loved and well-respected older member of the ward who said a ten-minute prayer. He prayed for the entire family, but especially for the boy. He prayed for us that we would know what to do and how to help. His prayer was absolutely loving and sincere. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. Even my son was crying.
This is what I love about the church, the way it pulls us all together as a community, as a family. The parents were present at the meeting and they got to hear and see firsthand that they are loved and supported, and that their son is loved and supported. We cannot possibly understand why he did what he did, nor can we understand what they are going through. Some of us with mental illness in the family feel a kind of lingering dread, a "there but for the grace of God" feeling like a shadow on our lives. But all of us are saddened, sympathetic, and loving.
I read nasty horrible comments on the news stories written by people who don't know this kid, who don't know anyone who has been through a horror of this nature, and I feel doubly sad for their ignorance and their complacency. And in this instance I was very happy to have the community that is our ward family.