When I arrived on campus Monday, I received this rather cryptic email from the President of our Seminary Jay Rundell:
Friends,
By now, many of you have heard about what appears to have been a tragic murder-suicide last evening in Columbus. No doubt some of you have realized that Kevin Shults, the father of 7-year-old Kelli, was a 2002 graduate of MTSO. We are deeply saddened by this news and our prayers are with all concerned.
Grace and Peace,
Jay
I have since learned that Kevin Shults shot and killed his seven year old daughter Kelli before turning the gun on himself.
I didn’t know Kevin, but yet I am deeply troubled and moved by this tragedy. It must be a devastating thing to find yourself all alone and no where to turn. The sense of despair and devastation that must have been felt by Kevin prior to committing this act must have been profound indeed.
What is scary to me, is how alone we are truly becoming in this society. We no longer reach out to each others. Groups such as Lodges, fraternal organizations, even the PTA (I know it’s PTO’s, I’m just showing my age) continue to decline in membership until one day they may be gone forever. Even our churches are feeling the effects of this shift in society. People are too content to send out an email rather than pick up the phone. Actually physically going out and visiting someone is almost unheard of. Texting, the most impersonal of all, (I know I'm just getting old) is the new way to keep in contact, but when it is used in place of actual human contact and conversation, then it is wrong.
Our houses are all built with back decks instead of front porches which further emphasizes our desire for seclusion. We no longer play family games and board games, instead we play video games against the computer, or X Box games over the phone lines with strangers halfway around the world, or next door. (Does it really mater where they are?)
My challenge for you this week is to reach out to someone/ anyone. Pick up the phone and call someone that you haven’t talked to in a while. Stop by and see your neighbor. You might even take them a plate of cookies, it’s ok if they are store bought. Tell someone/anyone you know that you care about them, that you are interested in them and that you are concerned about them.
The world that we live in is a difficult place. People are facing challenges everyday that no one knows about, except them. Reach out and make a difference to someone today, you will never know what difference that plate of cookies may have made in their life. You may never know that a simple act of kindness may have averted a tragedy like Kevin and his daughter. Only God knows.
Blessings
Friends,
By now, many of you have heard about what appears to have been a tragic murder-suicide last evening in Columbus. No doubt some of you have realized that Kevin Shults, the father of 7-year-old Kelli, was a 2002 graduate of MTSO. We are deeply saddened by this news and our prayers are with all concerned.
Grace and Peace,
Jay
I have since learned that Kevin Shults shot and killed his seven year old daughter Kelli before turning the gun on himself.
I didn’t know Kevin, but yet I am deeply troubled and moved by this tragedy. It must be a devastating thing to find yourself all alone and no where to turn. The sense of despair and devastation that must have been felt by Kevin prior to committing this act must have been profound indeed.
What is scary to me, is how alone we are truly becoming in this society. We no longer reach out to each others. Groups such as Lodges, fraternal organizations, even the PTA (I know it’s PTO’s, I’m just showing my age) continue to decline in membership until one day they may be gone forever. Even our churches are feeling the effects of this shift in society. People are too content to send out an email rather than pick up the phone. Actually physically going out and visiting someone is almost unheard of. Texting, the most impersonal of all, (I know I'm just getting old) is the new way to keep in contact, but when it is used in place of actual human contact and conversation, then it is wrong.
Our houses are all built with back decks instead of front porches which further emphasizes our desire for seclusion. We no longer play family games and board games, instead we play video games against the computer, or X Box games over the phone lines with strangers halfway around the world, or next door. (Does it really mater where they are?)
My challenge for you this week is to reach out to someone/ anyone. Pick up the phone and call someone that you haven’t talked to in a while. Stop by and see your neighbor. You might even take them a plate of cookies, it’s ok if they are store bought. Tell someone/anyone you know that you care about them, that you are interested in them and that you are concerned about them.
The world that we live in is a difficult place. People are facing challenges everyday that no one knows about, except them. Reach out and make a difference to someone today, you will never know what difference that plate of cookies may have made in their life. You may never know that a simple act of kindness may have averted a tragedy like Kevin and his daughter. Only God knows.
Blessings
4 comments:
Pastor Jim,
Just as you did not know Kevin, I do not know you. I respect your generalized concern regarding some of the impersonal elements of our present society. Having read your blog entry, I feel the need to point out to you, however, that Kevin was not in any way a shut in or someone who was not in regular contact with other adults who were close to him. On the contrary, Kevin held a very public position with a local chapter of the United Way, and was in close interaction with his colleagues and local business and community leaders on a nearly daily basis. Finally, Kevin lived in one of the more traditional "front porch" communities in our country--the historic German Village on the south side of downtown Columbus. Whether or not Kevin had many or even a few close confidants, I cannot say, but he certainly had people around him who were trying to achieve what they believed was best for him, his daugher, and for themselves. This is precisely what makes this tragedy--and, specifically, the inexplicable killing of an innocent 7 year old girl--so truly devastating. Jesus taught us, in no uncertain terms, to forgive. And, surely, our society leaves many less fortunate behind. But please let us not be so quick to misplace blame or to try to explain this tragedy away on how "we" are today. I would venture to say that many people who regularly commune via FaceBook and text messaging do so with old and new friends with whom they would not otherwise ever visit or speak. Further, I have a hunch that many of those people share their more closely held problems in those environments in a way that they otherwise would never do face to face with their friends or church members. I'm not ready to suggest or explore a reason for Kevin's actions, but I understand that he was in regular contact with the mother of his child and also with his ex fiancé, and I also know his occupation placed him squarely in regular, close communication with others and in the lighted view of our community.
Thank-you Bobby,
Your comment is right on and I appreciate your willingness to share your feelings with me as well as your personal insight. My thoughts came from a conversation that we had in class today and I was in error to lump my societal concerns with this tragedy, especially when I was unfamiliar with the facts. I suppose as someone from the outside looking in, I am just trying to find or maybe even hoping to find some type of answer where none exists. I think that what I really am trying to say is that even though we may be surrounded by other people, very active in civic groups, or even socially prominent, we can still find ourselves painfully alone. We can call, text and chat, interact on message boards etc. but even with all of the means of communication at our disposal we can still find ourselves alone, and you are right in saying that we can really never know if anyone has someone close that they can confide in on a deep personal basis.
Bobby, thank-you for taking the time to share your experience with me, I in no way would want my random thoughts, which I expected to be read by about 10 people back in Indiana, to be hurtful to anyone who knew this family. My heart and prayers goes out to you and everyone who has been touched by this heartbreaking tragedy.
Blessings
Thank you, Pastor. I want to assure you that no personal offense was taken by me. Your comments were actually forwarded to me by a friend (also here in Columbus) who happened upon your blog while searching for information (answers?) regarding Kevin and this tragedy. Reading your comments helped me to frame for myself what was so upsetting in all of this, so I thank you for them. In responding, I just wanted to point out some of the particulars of this tragic event--to show, I guess, that there are sometimes when we just really don't know, don't suspect, and even when we think we've reached out, will never know. That's a difficult idea to accept, and it doesn't mean we shouldn't stop trying. I absolutely agree with you that there are undoubtedly too many suffering alone in a crowd. Just trying to come to grips with this, I guess. Thank you, and I wish the best to you and your congregation.
Bobby,
Thank-you my friend for your insights, as well as you kind words. You have opened my eyes to what truly was a knee jerk reaction on my part, a reaction that wasn’t necessarily helpful or healing in nature, even if my intentions may have been good, my response wasn’t and I appreciate your willingness to share your thoughts and feelings with me. Our conversation will, and perhaps already has, made me a better pastor, and for that I feel very blessed by you.
Please know that I am keeping this family and community in my prayers. Bless you and please drop me an email sometime soon and let me know how you and the community are doing.
Blessings
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