The Lord is near the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18
This past Sunday when I gave a message on “Darkness,” I had no idea what was about to happen this week. The murders of eight individuals in Atlanta on Tuesday night by a racist, sexist, Christian Nationalist was horrific on so many levels. Many AAPI and friends of AAPI are upset about so many things. Both liberal and conservative news outlets are getting it wrong by focusing so much on the serial killer. The Atlanta area police department are doing for more to humanize the murderer than the deceased. And as of Thursday morning, we still don’t know the names of the last two victims.
This event hits particularly close to the heart because six of the victims were Asian women and four of them were Korean, and I am Korean-American. Some were my mother’s age. Some were single parents. Some were grandmothers. And some may have had no close relatives. So last night I attempted writing a prayer for these victims by calling them “eemo,” which means “auntie” in Korean and what I would call my mom’s friends as a kid. Yet I was so overcome with emotion, I was unable to write down any words.
If you, like me, are disgusted, angered, and disturbed by the shooting in Atlanta on Tuesday, it’s healthy to be upset and grieve. Yet, God reassures us that He is near the brokenhearted, comforts those who mourn, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
