BackYouth Speak Out on Violence
by LISA PATTERSON
Violence in our lives as Christians is an everyday obstacle. We face it as we walk down the street. Some of us ignore there is violence. Some are part of it.
We don’t face the fact that 11-year-olds are taking guns to school and threatening, sometimes even killing, other children. In our society, children don’t feel secure. Guns allow them to feel secure.
Suicide is one form of violence close to home for me. We all have points in our lives when we feel we are not loved or needed. My aunt attempted suicide a few years ago. She left church early without telling us why. We went to the house to drop off her kids. Everything was locked, even the windows.
My mother somehow found a way to get in. I ran into my aunt’s bedroom, lifted up the pillow that was over her head, and saw her lying there with a telephone cord around her neck.
I screamed and cried. I wasn’t sure what was happening. Soon we were in a neighbor’s home watching a movie while she was taken to the hospital. She is alive today, but her life has not changed. She has not come out of that shady place and into the light.
Some friends of mine are in similar situations. They feel it is their fault their parents are alcoholics. They see suicide as the only way of ending the problem. The sad part is their parents don’t see how they are affecting their children’s lives.
What we, as Christians, need to do in our communities is send out the message of love. Kids are not violent because they are prime evil, but because they believe no one cares for or loves them. They grow up neglected, and the gangs give them a sense of belonging. Love is the key to helping our societies become stronger and capable of reaching out to people in need.
There was a special program done in our church recently. We heard about how a mother sitting next to her child, who was delirious from fever, spoke the name Jesus, and the child’s fever was calmed.
Jesus’ name can change a heated argument to one of love and forgiveness. The simplest answer to society’s problems is one thing we often overlook. The answer is the One we yell at when times are bad, and ask, "Why me?" The answer is the sweetest name on earth -- Jesus.
Lisa Patterson is a ninth grader and a member of Page Community United Methodist Church in her hometown of Page, Ariz. She serves on the steering committee of the National Youth Ministry Organization of The United Methodist Church.
Response magazine