The most recent, and one of the
most heinous events in memory, is that of 20 young children and six adults being brutally
murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut. The pathetic soul who perpetrated this crime against humanity was given completely to evil. He first
murdered his own mother with a gun he had stolen from her. He then murdered
six more adults before putting a gun in the faces of young children and pulling
the trigger. He ended the massacre by ending his own miserable life.
What caused this individual to do
something so heinous will be a matter of some debate for years to come. I don’t
care what caused it…he was evil, he liked killing innocent people and he will
burn in hell! His name is not worthy to be remembered, especially in the same
story with that of a hero.
It is an irony of life that the
best and worst of human nature are often revealed in the same events. In the
midst of the darkness of this event we should take note of the courage and love
that was also displayed. It is in such times that I have come to believe life
doesn’t so much create our characters as it reveals them.
We are prone to murder each other
over the most irrelevant of things. We’ve even elevated murder to a massive
scale. We call it war. We are prone to only look out for ourselves. We ignore
the sickness, pain and disease that other members of our race fall victim to.
Even lowly animals pay more attention to their own kind when another is
hurting. It can be discouraging to think we are members of the same race that
is capable of such things.
And then there are moments when a
clean, clear light shines out of a human being. In those moments I feel hope
for the human race. It is in those moments that I am given to feel proud of a
fellow human being. I sometimes think God looks down and sees the light shining
all the way to Him and, in those moments, He says: “That’s it! That’s what I’m
looking for! That’s worthy of eternal life…”
In the Newtown, Connecticut
massacre the pathetic creature that murdered six adults and 20 little kids showed us the darkest of darkness
in human beings. In the same episode a light shined forth clear and true. A
young school teacher named Kaitlin Roig, someone who probably never wanted or thought to
gain national attention, has shown us the courage and decency the human heart is capable of.
This young teacher, upon hearing the shooting, took her first-grade
class and hid them in a small bathroom. She did what she could to comfort and
quiet them. While she recalled the children saying things like: “I just want my mom” and “I don’t want to die, I just want to go home and have
Christmas” she calmed them by telling them they would be OK…they just had to
wait for the good guys.
She said she thought they were all
going to die so she told her students that she loved them because she wanted
that to be the last thing they heard. Out of her own terror her thoughts were for the children she had been entrusted with. She wanted them to know someone loved them. A purer light I’ve never seen. One day the children she protected will realize how blessed they were to have such a teacher.
We, here in America, elevate and glorify violence in our movies and games. We then wonder when our children become insensitive to it. We've thrown God out of our public places then ask where He was when they occurred. Some of us want to blame guns but none of the gun laws now proposed would have prevented this. Such arguments are for another time. Right now I can only think of 20 young faces who's smiles are gone. Here and now I want only to remember them and honor a hero.
No doubt Ms. Roig doesn't think of herself as a hero...heroes never do. I'm also certain her students, their parents and the rest of America knows she is. There were, no doubt, other heroes who shined that day. As far as I’m concerned all the teachers there were heroes. Kaitlin Roig is a name that will never be forgotten...by her students, by her community and by her Creator. I’m sure God has it written down. And I'm sure He has found another jewel for His crown.
Thank You Ms. Roig...for your courage, for your heart, for your humanity...
Here are the names of Gods children whose lives were cut short. They now sleep awaiting His call...
Thank You Ms. Roig...for your courage, for your heart, for your humanity...
Here are the names of Gods children whose lives were cut short. They now sleep awaiting His call...
Charlotte Bacon, Feb. 22, 2006
Daniel Barden, Sept. 25, 2005
Rachel Davino, July 17, 1983
Olivia Engel, July 18, 2006
Josephine Gay, Dec. 11, 2005
Ana M. Marquez-Greene, April 4, 2006
Dylan Hockley, March 8, 2006
Dawn Hochsprung, June 28, 1965
Madeleine F. Hsu, July 10, 2006
Catherine V. Hubbard, June 8, 2006
Chase Kowalski, Oct. 31, 2005
Jesse Lewis, June 30, 2006
James Mattioli, March 22, 2006
Grace McDonnell, Nov. 4, 2005
Anne Marie Murphy, July 25, 1960
Emilie Parker, May 12, 2006
Jack Pinto, May 6, 2006
Noah Pozner, Nov. 20, 2006
Caroline Previdi, Sept. 7, 2006
Jessica Rekos, May 10, 2006
Avielle Richman, Oct. 17, 2006
Lauren Rousseau, June 8, 1982
Mary Sherlach, Feb. 11, 1956
Victoria Soto, Nov. 4, 1985
Benjamin Wheeler, Sept. 12, 2006
Allison N. Wyatt, July 3, 2006
It will soon be available on Amazon. Thank You Again
Mrs. Roig-DeBellis.
God Bless You...
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