It has been a difficult week in
which to write. So many troubling things
are occurring, so much hatred and evil.
Attacks in Paris. A gunman in
Colorado Springs. Acknowledgement that
another innocent young black man was gunned down in Chicago. Congressmen vowing not to support
environmental legislation, but to repeal it.
A presidential candidate mocking a disabled reporter. The same candidate vowing to require all
Muslims to wear an identifying emblem and be registered (shades of Nazi
Germany). Politicians vowing to deny entrance to Syrian refugees. I wonder if it was this way when Jesus was
born.
Yesterday there was a shooting in
San Bernardino, near where our Annual Conferences are held. It took place at a center for the
developmentally disabled. Try as I
might, I can’t understand why someone would shoot up a center serving the
disabled. Then I wonder if it has to do
with the politician mocking the disabled.
Have we really sunk so low that “less than perfect” people are
expendable? A cold shiver runs through
me.
Later I heard the intended victims
were people attending a training session (or a holiday party) in a room rented
out for such purposes, and I wonder if it is “just another random workplace
episode.” Why are these incidents becoming so commonplace that we can
call them “just another”? What is wrong
with us? In an e-mail I opened today I
read that the favorite Black Friday sale item was a handgun. “The Associated
Press reported that on November 27, the FBI processed a
record-breaking 185,345 background checks for gun owners, or about one every
two seconds. It’s the most firearms sold in a single
day since background checks were instituted in 1998.”*
When I hear that the suspects, who
were killed in a shootout with police, had Arabic surnames, I wonder if this
will be judged a “terrorist” action and there will be reprisals against
innocent Muslims.
I read that their weapons were
legally purchased, and I wonder, once again, who needs such weapons, that are
capable of firing multiple rounds at high speeds? There is only one use for this type of
weapon, and that is to kill people.
And then I read that at the same
time violence was erupting in San Bernardino, a gunman in Savannah, GA shot
four people early Wednesday, killing a woman and injuring three men. No suspect has been arrested yet.
I am sorry if I offend anyone with
these thoughts, but enough is enough.
There have been 355 mass shootings in 336 days. In this season of Advent, of anticipation of
the birth of the Prince of Peace, it breaks my heart to see that voices of
reason are still shouted down when it comes to thoughtful training and licensing
of firearms and their users, as well as limits on the types and numbers of
firearms owned by any one person. Each
new incident results in more precious lives lost, more lives changed forever
due to trauma and disability. How many lives will be enough?
In this season of Advent, let us
work for peace, let us pray for peace, let our lives radiate peace, just as the
prophet Isaiah foretold:
Many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the
mountain of the Lord,
to
the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his
ways
and
that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go
forth instruction,
and
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the
nations,
and
shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords
into plowshares,
and
their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up
sword against nation,
neither
shall they learn war any more. Isaiah
2:3-5
Dear Lord, Our hearts break with each new shooting
incident. Keep us outraged. Keep us offended. Don’t let them become commonplace, everyday
incidents for us. Help us find a way to
stop the madness, and let us reach out in meaningful ways to the victims. Help us to be the people and nation we know
we can be. Amen
http://www.refinery29.com/2015/12/98673/america-most-popular-black-friday-sale-item-guns?
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