In Think No Evil Tragic Violence Meets Gentle Forgiveness and Lessons for Us All

Who hasn't heard of the horrendous shooting of ten innocent Amish school girls on October 2, 2006 in the quiet Nickel Mines Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania? Think No Evil by Jonas Beiler chronicles the story of the day the quiet, gentle Amish found themselves violated by a school shooting. While school shootings may have become more common in other areas around the country, no one considered that the Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania area heralding generations of Amish could or would suffer the consequences of such evil.

Think No Evil by Jonas Beiler (with Shawn Smucker), ISBN 978-1-4165-6298-6, Howard Books, shares the Amish Nickel Mines story of anguish and choice. Jonas Beiler in Think No Evil also reveals the background of the perpetrator, Charles Roberts, a local, though not an Amish, man who was married, had children and was a good father. But what he harbored inside was a broken heart from losing a child...and guilt. Instead of moving on, he festered in hate and unforgiveness toward himself and God.

Jonas Beiler in Think No Evil unfolds the story of what happened that day at the Amish school house in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. In Think No Evil Jonas Beiler shares the stories of each of the ten Amish girls who ended up trapped with Charles Roberts. While others either escaped or were ordered to leave, ten Amish school girls remained prisoners of Charles Roberts, a man bent on evil. Charles Roberts had come prepared. Charles Roberts had come to destroy and violate in that quiet Amish school house in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. Charles Roberts had come to assault and to kill.

But Charles Robert's plans for the Amish school shooting went awry when word got out. What he found in that Amish schoolhouse in which he'd barricaded himself and his Nickel Mines Amish school girls was rare courage from a people of deep and abiding faith. Jonas Beiler in Think No Evil reveals how the trapped Charles Roberts systematically took out his revenge with a gun on ten innocent Amish school girls. By the time the police broke down the door, all was still. Charles Roberts was dead and ten Amish girls fought for their lives. Five would not make it.

As the Amish of Nickel Mines and surrounding areas of Pennsylvania gathered to support one another, they early on made a choice. They would not allow hatred to take root and grow. They would not seek revenge. They would not seek legal action against anyone. Jonas Beiler in Think No Evil shares the historical roots of the Amish tradition of faith, non-resistance and forgiveness. Each generation is taught what so many in our culture miss.

Forgiveness isn't about absolving the other party. Forgiveness is about letting go the past, recognizing however much we dwell on the past, we can't change it. Forgiveness as Think No Evil by Jonas Beiler points out, and that the story of the Amish response in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania shows, is about reaching out to a future not imprisoned by the past. Forgiveness is for ourselves and for those we love.

The parents of the Amish girls shot by Charles Roberts didn't stop with the idea of forgiveness or in a willingness to grieve, to deal with what was and move on. As Jonas Beiler in Think No Evil shared, because the Amish of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania practiced forgiveness, they could look beyond their own pain to the pain of the family of Charles Roberts. They reached out to the wife, children and parents of Charles Roberts in understanding and care.

Hint. When reading Think No Evil by Jonas Beiler, keep a tissue handy.

The Amish of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania didn't pretend a great evil had not occurred. It had. But forgiveness helped them move beyond it. Because they recognized the true freedom forgiveness brings, they were able to not only begin the healing process for themselves, not only for the family of Charles Roberts, but also for the whole community of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania that was devastated by what happened to ten innocent school girls-their children.

As Jonas Beiler points out in Think No Evil, forgiveness is a choice, but it is a choice that leads to wholeness, to freedom and a future of light instead of the darkness chosen by Charles Roberts that led to the devastation of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania and the murder attempt on the lives of ten innocent Amish children.

Forgiveness is the answer to real and lasting peace.