The news today has drastically changed what I can write about this morning. If you haven’t heard of the recent tragedy in Connecticut, please make your way to a news source and then join in the many prayers being lifted right now.

There is not much I can say with a good conscious or rationalizing I can attempt before the devastating facts of what has happened causes me to pause and be still again. If the facts force such a reaction, consider the emotions and absences that are devastatingly obvious for parents, teachers and loved ones connected to that elementary school.

Before the arguments begin, before policies and changes make their way out of our mouths and into our conversation, please pause to respect the human life lost today. God’s great gift taken from some of the most innocent.

We can despise what has happened and be stirred to action but lets ensure what follows is laced with great hope. Hope filled action and prayer will answer the questions we cannot today.

Let us all pray today, Emmanuel. Pray that such a day as this will never again be.

– Josh Phillips