When Paul wrote how believers are to “mourn with those that mourn”(Romans 12:15), he didn’t include in that directive to  check passports or voting records or social media posts first. He meant as you put yourself in the shoes of others, mourn as if it were your child, your spouse or your parent.  

This week’s 24th anniversary of 9-11 and the violence in our country (murders of the Ukrainian woman, a political activist in Utah, and the school shooting in Colorado –the 47th of 2025) shook the nation. There were those who chose to respond to these occurrences with outright glee or turning the blind eye of indifference. Clearly neither are acceptable responses for the American tragedies. Nor should the same extremes be evident in the deaths in Gaza or Ukraine or anywhere else in the world where evil and murder seem to reign. Death (in any form) is the enemy on display at Golgotha. It’s the bitter foe defeated in Christ’s empty tomb. 

Put yourself in the other’s shoes. Lace up the tennis shoes of the children who will be in school knowing  their classmates are dead or marred for life. Step into the sandals of a mother in Gaza who’s child was killed because of a bomb. Put on the heels of Erika Kirk as she navigates life with two children and no husband. Slip into the loafers of Iryna Zarutska’s mother who is dealing with the horror that her daughter survived a war but not a bus ride in America. For that matter, put on the boots of the father, who turned in his son for the assignation of Charlie Kirk. It’s not about politics. It is about Christian concern and empathy. 

It is just as troubling to have people happily lashing out about Kirk’s death and those who ignore school shootings or deaths in war. Jesus called us to love our neighbors and love our enemies. To love is to come alongside in grief. To offer hope amongst a hopeless situation. To point people to Jesus when they are walking the most difficult road of their lives. 

Followers of Jesus respond to death, crime, and war as Jesus would. Not ignoring. Not rejoicing. John 11:35: Jesus wept.