Last weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a church retreat in Toronto with people from all over the world. The attendees are all involved in branch churches in their own communities and also involved in the overall broader movement of the church. At this weekend retreat, which was called a youth summit, I made a lot of new friends, reconnected with people I had met before at previous church retreats/events/church services, and had a lot of great spiritual insights. The theme of the weekend was "Unity: One world, One family, One God." Over the 3 days of the retreat, we kept coming back to this idea of One God, and the One Mind that unified us all; not just those of us at the retreat, but that unified everyone in the world.
I returned back to Seattle late Sunday night, so inspired and amazed at the wonderful weekend I had had. I couldn't wait to share these insights and spiritual ideas with my friends and family.
On Monday morning, I got a text from my mother saying that there had been a stabbing at Snohomish High School, where I had attended, and where my little sister currently attends. (This was a huge surprise, Snohomish is a very peaceful and safe place overall.) My mom's text was brief, just a fragment of a sentence. I quickly texted my sister, who thankfully had her phone with her and who immediately sent me a text back, saying she was okay. She seemed a little shook up, but said that she had gone home early, along with many of the other kids. I mentally wrapped my sister up in a blanket of love, and texted her back telling her how much I loved her. I did a quick search online and read that while 1 stab victim's injuries were serious, both victims had survived the attack.
Over the past few days since Monday morning, there has been such an outpouring of love from the community and neighboring communities. Not just love shown and expressed for the 2 victims, but also for the young suspect who is obviously having a rough time and made some incredibly poor choices. People who grew up in Snohomish but have since moved away have commented on the online news stories, expressing their love for the community and everyone who still lives there, the high school, the teachers and students, and anyone else involved. Neighboring high schools, rivals when it comes to football and soccer games, have sent over huge signs, filled with signatures and notes of support and love. A fund has been set up for people to donate to help the 2 victims and their families. A big boulder in the town, which is frequently spray painted to advertise upcoming football games/birthdays/events, now says, "Small town, big heart." And, yesterday, the rival high school decided to show solidarity and support for the students and staff at SHS by wearing SHS's school colors. There are pictures on Facebook showing a sea of students, all dressed in red, black, and white, and raising their arms towards the camera for the picture. These pictures brought tears to my eyes. The caption of one of these pictures reads, "2 schools. 1 Snohomish."
Last night I was thinking about this expression of unity, of 1 town, and how it related to the weekend summit's theme of 1 God and 1 source of good. We all come from 1 source, we are all made by the same Creator, and we are all created to be reflections of God. As Genesis says, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen. 1:26). If we are all made in God's image, we all share the same God-like qualities and can express those qualities. The qualities of love, compassion, tenderness, generosity, and many others are certainly being expressed through the support of members of the community and surrounding areas. And what I love seeing is how that love and support and compassion extends to the young girl who hurt the 2 other girls... The entire high school and the entire community is wrapped up in this love, inclusive and not leaving anyone out. What a beautiful reality of truth, that nobody can be outside of God's love and care.
This unity is healing. It has already brought people of the community together, and already promoted feelings of love and affection for everyone involved. In just a few days, there has been such an outpouring of love. There have been so many true examples of these wonderful God-like qualities... the same God who created each and every one of us to be expressions of these qualities.
