Kissing Them Goodbye

 Last night we told our 9-year-old what happened to the children in Uvalde.

"You know, how you practice getting under the desks at school?" we said. "This is why you do that."

"Did they not practice getting under their desks at their school?" he asked.

And that is when the innocence was lost, the charade was over.

We want so badly to tell our children we adults will keep them safe. But last night, our nine-year-old exposed that for the lie it is.

I am a preacher. I've taught people to pray all my ministry. But we don't need anymore prayers now. We know what is necessary.

Sadly, however, we won't do what is necessary. We aren't ready yet. Not enough blood has been shed yet.

So, for now, we keep our children practicing hiding under tables and behind chairs. And as we drop them off at the curb we tell them we love them and keep kissing them goodbye.

It really would be better for this nation if a millstone were tied around our necks and we were thrown into the bottom of the sea.

Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.