According to an article on TheBlaze.com, when confessing, Dylan Roof reported he, "...almost didn't go through with it because everyone was so nice to him."
I have been listening to the "security experts" on the various news outlets over the last few days. They have all been noting that churches need people trained to look for visitors who are strange and out of the ordinary, and then to call law enforcement when they see these things/people...
I don't think these security experts are familiar with the Gospel message churches like Mother Emanuel are sharing (and obviously shared) with people (especially if they look out of the ordinary).
Let me share a few "un-ordinary" (read: not well dressed, not normally in attendance, not of your skin color, perhaps having an odor, not clean) people who have come to worship during my time in church membership/service:
- a young man looking for money to buy milk for his family
- a mom who needed diapers for the baby in her stroller
- a young man who wandered into the front row (I know all you Presbyterians are gasping out there in cyberspace) during a sermon about welcoming your neighbor! Talk about a sermon illustration. Or maybe that is a sermon dramatization?
- countless others who were hoping to visit the food pantry...
What we NEED to be doing is teaching our young people is it UNACCEPTABLE to hate others because of their skin color (really, for any reason, but let's start there). While we're at it, we could re-teach that lesson to citizens of all ages.
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I offer prayers for the congregation of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, and for the families and friends of:
The church's lead pastor and state Senator Clementa Pinckney, 41
Cynthia Hurd, 54
Tywanza Sanders, 26
Myra Thompson, 59
Ethel Lance, 70
Susie Jackson, 87
Reverend DePayne Middleton Doctor, 49
Reverend Sharonda Singleton, 45
Reverend Daniel Simmons Sr., 74
God in your mercy, hear our prayer.
