Editor’s note: Following two high school shootings this May, Sophia Behrens, a high school junior and member of the ELCA Youth Core Leadership Team, offers a faith reflection and call to action.
Earlier this year, I attended a school walkout in my city. While I had been active in political issues and advocacy, this was my first protest, and I prepared for it excitedly and nervously. I was warned by parents, friends and teachers to “be careful” and “watch out, not everyone is happy about this.”
It dawned on me that while unlikely, my actions of stepping off campus into the heart of Fort Collins could have consequences and I could get hurt.
These small, dissenting voices were drowned out in my mind by articles, pictures and safety actions that my school had to take in order to minimize the casualties of a school shooting.
On the day of the walkout, I remembered the numerous times I had been cramped in a corner of a classroom for lockdown drills. I remembered the day my school put magnets on all the doors for a safety measure so it wouldn’t matter if our hands shook with fear of an active shooter; we could just pull out the magnet and the door would shut and lock.
So I walked out the door, off my school property. I shouted, with many others, for the freedom of learning without fear.
I believe we should share our faith with actions, whether that’s walking out of school, writing letters or simply expressing an opinion in a nonviolent matter.
Reflecting upon this day, I noticed it shifted the way I look at my faith.
There were a few people who were against the walkout. They made the argument that God was no longer in our schools.
But I believe God is everywhere, and that’s shown through countless Scriptures, theological works and the faces of students I go to school with.
I believe we should share our faith with actions, whether that’s walking out of school, writing letters or simply expressing an opinion in a nonviolent matter. And our faith should be shared with love.
I walked out for the love I have for my school community, my classmates and those who have lost these key elements in life because of a shooter. I walked out in faith.
