“In times of suffering, silence is golden, and speaking is golden. It’s all a matter of truth and timing and tone.”.... John Piper
My Dad used to say it another way, "if you're going to say something in the midst of a storm, make it count..otherwise shut up." He was great at the "truth" and the "timing" part of the above statement.
As the Father of a 12 year old girls, “what if?” in every conceivable form has probably crossed the minds of every parent in this Country in the aftermath of the Newtown shootings. I cannot possibly imagine how those parents are feeling. I sit here and think about what I'm getting the girls for Christmas, while parents in Newtown are ordering caskets. It's not fair.
While watching the news conference of Robbie Parker's on CNN I truly marveled at his incredible strength and grace. Thirty hours earlier he had learned that his 6 year old Daughter was dead, and there he was, a picture of courage , talking about his Daughter. In closing (the video below doesn't capture this moment), he stated that his life mission is to be the best father he can possibly be to Emilie's younger Sisters, and to help as many people as he possibly can. There was no hint of anger in his tone. I truly admire that man. I don't think I could have been that graceful...he even showed compassion for the shooter's family. He sure has made me think about the tone I use when relatively meaningless events occur in my life every day. It would be nice if something good could possibly come from this unimaginable event. For me, I will do my best to think about this man's grace when faced with my relatively insignificant bag of crap, and hopefully simply be a better human being.
