Here’s a story I’ll be telling in my message on Sunday morning at Sweetwater River Church…
Eight years ago a student at Santana High School in Santee, Andy Williams, brought a .22 handgun to school, killed two students and shot 13 others. Afterwards he told officers he was tired of being bullied. As a chaplain with the Red Cross, I did crisis counseling the day after the shooting. In a room full of counselors…I sat at a table with a couple of psychologists. People dropped in all day to talk. At one point, we had three students at our table- two girls and a boy. The boy described what took place when Andy emerged from the boys bathroom. He pointed the gun at him and pulled the trigger- nothing happened…he was out of bullets. That afternoon I was asked by the Red Cross to do some interviews with the media. One of the interviews was with MTV. I shared this story and by next day, that interview was aired across the United States. This student suffered one of the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress- “survivor guilt.” He wanted to know why he lived when others were shot and died. I told him that there was a purpose to his life and he had the opportunity to fulfill it.
We should all have survivor guilt- Jesus died for our sins and we get to live.
I’m going to wrap up the service by doing a live painting as our worship team does a special number.
If you’re in San Diego for Easter, come check us out.
Filed under: Personal, Preaching/Speaking Tagged: | Easter, Sweetwater River Church
