wfn.org | Conyers, Ga., pastor asks God: Why?

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

May 25, 1999 News media contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-71B{290}

By Kelly Holton*

CONYERS, Ga. (UMNS) -- To begin to make sense of the recent shooting at
Heritage High School, the Rev. Martha Wright turned to the Psalms. 

Her sermon at the ecumenical Service of Comfort, held May 23 at Ebenezer
United Methodist Church, was modeled after the Psalms of darkness or
disorientation and expressed her grief and anger at the situation.

"This prayer ... comes from the deep corners of my soul, where I want to
scream out loud, 'I don't understand,'" said Wright, Ebenezer's minister of
pastoral care. Nearly 400 people gathered for the service.

Six students were injured in the May 20 incident, including Ebenezer member
Drake Hoy, 18. Hoy was treated at Rockdale County Hospital for a gunshot
wound to the foot and released the day of the shooting. 

The suspect, 15-year-old T.J. Solomon, has been charged by the district
attorney with 21 counts related to the shooting. Solomon belonged to a Boy
Scout troop that had met at Ebenezer. His mother, Mae Dean Daniele, gave an
emotional public apology May 24.

During the worship service, Wright invited the congregation to overhear her
prayer, as she asked God why something like a school shooting could happen,
especially in her own town. 

"How can life go so wrong that a 15-year-old gets so confused that he
threatens the life of his peers and his own life? ... Why would you let
(this) happen, and where are you in all this?" she asked.

Wright said she found God in the actions of Cecil Brinkley, the Heritage
High School assistant principal who convinced the student to surrender. She
saw God in the frightened young man who began sobbing as he gave up his gun.

She recognized God in the parent who stood in the middle of the road
directing traffic so frantic parents and students could be reunited. She
felt God's presence in the bouquet of flowers delivered to the church from
the Littleton (Colo.) United Church youth group.

"You're telling us you shall be known through our saving work," Wright said.

She acknowledged that God will not "wave a divine wand and make the world
perfect. ... We must be vehicles for that saving grace. ... Help us to have
the courage to serve this broken world ... because we are your children and
we're in this broken world together."

Wright also called for a change in society, which teaches people not to get
involved in the problems of others. She prayed for God to "change our hearts
so we know it is our business." She asked that people realize the
perpetrator of these shootings is not beyond hope, even though he has
committed a destructive act. "He, too, is created in your image," she said,
"and that image is somewhere beyond his distraught soul."

Throughout her sermon, Wright searched for ways to understand God's role in
tragedy and to define a meaningful Christian response. 

She recognized the many "acceptable" ways, such as cynicism and rudeness,
for which each person needs God's healing and noted how these attitudes
contribute to the divisions
in society that lead to events like the shooting. 

"I ask you to come and act quickly among and around and in us. ... Change us
so we don't want to cheat on our taxes, our tests or our spouses." 

In the spirit of Pentecost, Wright prayed for God to "shower down on us your
healing and reconciling spirit ... so that instead of living in fear we can
live in peace."

# # #

*Holton is the associate editor of the Wesleyan Christian Advocate, the
newspaper of the North and South Georgia annual conferences.

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