Community/School Loss

What started as a wispy, gray mist above my head just before bed last night has become a heavy, tear-laden cloud pressing down on me this morning as I sit on my couch and write. I didn't even know the fourteen year old boy the ocean claimed yesterday afternoon. All I know is he and a friend were swimming in the ocean and got caught by the undertow.  The friend made it out. He didn't. The Coast Guard is still searching for him.

I can't imagine the grief his family is going through.  I pray they have a strong support system, one that will cry with them, talk with them, pray with them, or sit quietly with them; one that will make a good cup of coffee, a pot of soup, or favorite meal. Most of all, though, one who will let them talk, cry, rant, question, remember, and whatever else they need to do to  mourn, except of course try to drink or drug the pain away.

I wonder what is going on at school today.  This must be the topic of conversation in classrooms, halls, lunchrooms, teacher lounges, bus barns, administrative offices, and playgrounds. Previous teachers are exchanging memories. Former classmates are doing the same. There is probably a bitter-sweet mixture of smiles and tears as groups mingle for support.

And here I am, just sitting, feeling helpless and useless, sad and teary. Silly! I don't even know the boy--not even his name. My strongest thought is "What a senseless, tragic loss of a young life."  I do hope other kids will now more fully understand the dangers of the ocean, that it is restless, mighty, dangerous, and sneaky in spite of its beauty, majesty and means of livelihood for our area.  I pray they will each in some way come to think as one of my grandchildren did last night, "I will never be able to look at the ocean the same again."

"Oh Lord, help our community make sense of untimely loss.  Show us how to reach out once again to a family experiencing tragedy in our small town.  Comfort the inconsolable. Give wisdom to counselors, teachers, and pastors.  Help your young believers be strong in their witness to friends during this difficult time.  Use them to lift you up.

Lord, we have witnessed the power of your sea in a tragic way, but we know that you are much more powerful that any body of water. Let us see your power in our town.  Amen