While prayer and the Bible are no longer permitted in American public schools, apparently a Native American talisman is acceptable

Ever since the tragic Columbine shooting in 1999, a Native American “dreamcatcher” has been crisscrossing the country to the various schools where shootings have taken place. It’s presented to the schools as a means of coping and comfort for faculty and students. This month, it will be taken to Parkland, Florida, where 17 people died on Valentine’s Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

According to Valerie Bauerlein, writing for The Wall Street Journal, it’s “a gift no school wants to receive.” I should think not. Yet according to some, it’s a means of making a “heart-to-heart” kind of connection.” On the back an inscription reads, “In the spirit of healing, we pass on this dream catcher. May it never travel again.” I bring this to your attention because the article in the WSJ pointed out that a dreamcatcher is a talisman. A talisman is an object that someone believes holds magical properties that bring good luck to the possessor, or that protect the possessor from evil or harm.

The idea began almost 20 years ago in Michigan, when a group of students wanted to send some kind of memento to Columbine High School where 12 students and a teacher died at the hands of two shooters. A teacher at the school in Michigan, “medicine woman” Debra Gutowski, was asked to make the dreamcatcher because of its “protective powers and healing properties.” Now, I’m sure we all understand that this dreamcatcher is mere symbolism. It’s a way of demonstrating sympathy and expressing human kindness, because it’s obviously failing as a magical talisman. But why turn to a charm to provide meaning in the wake of such tragedies?

In the great spiritual vacuum created by the outlaw of prayer and Bible reading in public schools, we are now grasping for something else to give us hope.

Could it be that in the great spiritual vacuum created by Engel vs. Vitale in 1962 and Abington vs. Schempp in 1963, which respectively outlawed prayer and Bible reading in public schools, we are now grasping for something else to give us hope? And while I am profoundly grateful for the many churches and believers that have offered ministry in the wake of these horrendous shootings, it grieves me that such a pathetic placebo as a dreamcatcher makes news, when true spiritual help is completely ignored in the mainstream media.

Rather than circulating a talisman, perhaps a better idea would be to send Bibles to these schools. Give every student a copy of the Scriptures with a prayer inscribed that points them to the real answer to this national crisis, the Lord Jesus Christ. Or would that be illegal? Well, I remind you that it was C.S. Lewis who wrote: “God shouts in our pain. Pain is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” And if you listen with your heart, you will hear in the midst of these ghastly tragedies, the divine shout inviting, imploring, and calling the world to Himself.

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