Terry Mattingly over at GetReligion gave our Dan Burke a very kind tip of the hat for his recent coverage of the Amish shootings in Lancaster County, Pa.
In case you missed it (and, Terry says, many media missed the boat on this one):
But as their family gathered beneath a gas lamp in their living room after dinner, Ben and Mary struggled to explain why a gunman would want to hurt Amish children. They told their sons that he had a “little problem in his head that made him do mean things.”
One of the boys stared at his plain black pants, fingered his suspenders and again asked, in a respectful tone: Why?
Settling her hands on her lap, Mary said: “Sometimes we don’t understand. I understand that the Lord does let this happen, but I do not know why.”
“Really the only way to answer this is to toss it in the Lord’s lap and say, ‘You take care of it, I can’t,'” Ben said after turning to the boy.
“But you may ask him to please carry us through,” Mary said.
As the night grew long and the boys began to yawn, Ben pulled a little black prayer book from the shelf. He pointed to a prayer often read at Amish funerals and provided an English translation.
“Glory Father, we thank Thee for all the blessings which Thou has bestowed upon the departed one, especially now that Thou has redeemed him from this wicked world and
brought his sorrows to an end, and as we trust, has taken his soul home to Thee.
As you can tell, all rich stuff. The original can be read here.
