In Memory of Rachel Scott

Tonight, my dad and I went to a local theater to hear Darrel Scott speak. He is the dad of Rachel Scott, the first one gunned down in the Columbine shootings 7 years ago. Rachel was 17 when she died because she loved God. She was asked point blank if she was a Christian and loved God. When she said yes, she was shot. April 20, 1991, was the first warm day in Columbine, and Rachel had gone outside to eat her lunch with a friend. When the shooters became frustrated because their pipe bombs they had placed in the cafeteria did not go off, they turned around and started to head back into the school. When they encountered Rachel, they recognized her.
Rachel was well known for reaching out to others. One young person said, “Rachel was a true Christian. So many people preach at me, but Rachel just cared.” That was Rachel’s nature. She made it her goal to reach out through small kindnesses. She reached out to people who were new, who were handicapped, who were made fun of, or who were all alone. She had no prejudices of people. She was a “See-througher”. That means that she saw through the situations or the masks people wear to the deeper meaning.
Rachel was also quite prophetic. She somehow knew she didn’t have long on this earth and wanted to do all she could to reach people for Christ. She even wrote in her diary the year she died and thanked God for all she had gotten because she knew this was her last year.
I think the thing that really got me was her drawing. It all “started” when a man called her dad after watching the funeral on CNN. He had been having a reoccurring dream for several nights and couldn’t get away from it. It was a picture of a sweet girl’s eyes with tears falling – 13 of them to be exact – onto a rose, which then turned into 13 drops of blood. Her dad said it did not mean anything to him, but the man asked him to take down his name and number and call him if it ever did. Four days later when they called from the police to say that he could pick up Rachel’s backpack (which was being held as evidence since there were 4 bullet holes through it) did he realize the significance. Just 2 hours before she died, Rachel had drawn that very picture in her diary. Darrell started hyperventilating for about 35 minutes there in his car as he cried, and cried. There was also a second picture he found showing the eyes, tears, and rose, coming out of a Columbine Flower (the Colorado State Flower and what the school was named after). That one had the verse that talks about laying one’s life down for Christ. I’m blown away by her desire to stand up for Christ. She was willing to die for him. I would do that for my children, but would I do that for Christ? This question is one I think I will be “chewing” on for awhile. I honestly hope never to be put in a situation where I have to face that, but as the bible says, we need to be ready to give an answer at all times. Wow. That’s deep stuff. What about you? Would you be willing to die for your faith? Would you be willing to live for Christ…through the thick and thin of life? That is not always easy either.

Thank you, Rachel, for your example and for showing us what a true Christian should look like. I pray that I will become a “See-througher” and a person always willing to look for those acts of kindness to others, even when it is out of my way or not in my schedule.