10 Apr March 27, 2023
by Christy Foster, Director of Communications
It is a date that feels like Good Friday, or what I imagine Good Friday must have felt like; utter despair, a pain that cannot be comprehended. There was so much confusion and grief that Monday, just as there must have been on Golgotha. Jesus’s friends looked on in utter horror as they watched their hope die on the cross. They thought love would intervene, but instead, all looked lost.
As I have reflected on March 27, the idea of hope and love have played out over and over in my head. There was so much darkness that day. We looked it squarely in the face. With our arms wrapped around our students, we sat in terror for 14 minutes as we listened to bullets rain down outside our doors. And then, our hearts shattered at the magnitude of six beautiful lives lost. No one was immune from the horror of that day; it was felt around the world. Yet, it is only by walking through the utter darkness of that day that I can now begin to see more clearly the hope and love that surrounded us all, even in the darkness. Even when I couldn’t see it, love was there, intervening, conquering death.
Isn’t that the resurrection story? In Jesus’s rising from the dead, love intervened, and death lost its power. On that Monday, love was the teachers who acted heroically to protect our students. Love was the emergency dispatchers who took the calls. Love was the Metro police who didn’t hesitate and rushed into a building full of gunfire. Love was all the people who showed up in the face of evil and took their stand against it. On that Monday, amidst the terror, love was already intervening to bring us hope that death would not have the last word.
Our hearts are broken, yet we are clinging to the promise of the resurrection. We are now watching Jesus take the darkness of that day and redeem it into something beautiful and life-giving. Love and support are pouring out from the ends of the earth. There are hands working tirelessly to provide support and care to our faculty, students, and families. There are millions lifting prayers up for the Covenant community. His Word is true; He is truly close to the brokenhearted and rescues those whose spirits are crushed.
The promise of the cross is personal to us now more than ever. Death and pain will not have the final word. It is a promise playing out over and over through the Covenant story. It is real and tangible. We hold our hurting, broken hearts close to us while boldly claiming the hope of the resurrection as our own. He will take that darkness, that death, and redeem it into something beautiful. And, as we walk this long, winding, hard road of grief, we do so with the knowledge that love will win.
We saw that promise of hope in a very real way this week through the miracle of life! Our Assistant Head of School, Kelly Fuller, has given birth to a healthy baby boy! Please join us in celebrating the life of Carson James Fuller. Our hearts are overflowing with joy at his birth. God is good. God is faithful. God is love.