Your words and the depth of your spiritual thoughts spoke to me. I spent 26 years in the Air Force as a Chaplain and know the power of these assault weapons. They don't belong on the street and I am a combination of ticked off and heartbroken as this insanity continues.
Thank you so much for reading and for your words - and for your service. My family has many veterans + I also served a summer as a chaplain intern for the VA hospital. Your words + experience need to be heard.
I still have pictures of the victims of the Uvalde shooting, the shooting in Buffalo, the shootings in California on my refrigerator. (There's not much room left!) I try to remember them and all of us in my prayers. But it gets so discouraging. One of the authorities in Nashville (the mayor?) said that what happened is "unacceptable"; another authority (State Police officer?) said something like "we don't apologize for 'thoughts and prayers' here in Tennessee because we believe in prayer and God". But it is acceptable if one refuses to do anything that can make a difference, especially if it means looking at the roots of the problem or admitting that adding more guns (more guards, armed teachers, etc.) to the situation is any kind of rational response! And 'thoughts and prayers' are empty if it is just another excuse not to search for truth and answers wherever that leads. I wanted to throw something at the TV screen! If someone is drowning, we should do our best to rescue them; but then we should ask why not just one but so many are drowning and what happened 'upstream' that led to the crisis. (That metaphor, I think, is from MLK.) It's hard to do a rescue operation, much less redemption, when someone else is getting in the way (GOP, NRA, etc.) or even pushing people in the river upstream! Our gun culture (idolatry) and other systems of violence and abuse are interconnected, "intersectional", endemic, pandemic, and pervasive. Our precious, innocent children seem to be canaries dying in the coal mine. But too many don't care enough (including me). There are other canaries too (dying species, melting glaciers, trends toward fascism, vulnerable women and elderly, transgender persons, George Floyd, et al). I still believe in prayer- including as a cry for help in pain, grief, frustration, helplessness. But I sometimes wonder what even God can do, much less me or us together. Kyrie eleison! (P.S. There are many fine groups and courageous individuals in the gun control movement, but is there anyone working on a comprehensive plan and strategy? Just wondering.)
Your words and the depth of your spiritual thoughts spoke to me. I spent 26 years in the Air Force as a Chaplain and know the power of these assault weapons. They don't belong on the street and I am a combination of ticked off and heartbroken as this insanity continues.
Thank you so much for reading and for your words - and for your service. My family has many veterans + I also served a summer as a chaplain intern for the VA hospital. Your words + experience need to be heard.
I still have pictures of the victims of the Uvalde shooting, the shooting in Buffalo, the shootings in California on my refrigerator. (There's not much room left!) I try to remember them and all of us in my prayers. But it gets so discouraging. One of the authorities in Nashville (the mayor?) said that what happened is "unacceptable"; another authority (State Police officer?) said something like "we don't apologize for 'thoughts and prayers' here in Tennessee because we believe in prayer and God". But it is acceptable if one refuses to do anything that can make a difference, especially if it means looking at the roots of the problem or admitting that adding more guns (more guards, armed teachers, etc.) to the situation is any kind of rational response! And 'thoughts and prayers' are empty if it is just another excuse not to search for truth and answers wherever that leads. I wanted to throw something at the TV screen! If someone is drowning, we should do our best to rescue them; but then we should ask why not just one but so many are drowning and what happened 'upstream' that led to the crisis. (That metaphor, I think, is from MLK.) It's hard to do a rescue operation, much less redemption, when someone else is getting in the way (GOP, NRA, etc.) or even pushing people in the river upstream! Our gun culture (idolatry) and other systems of violence and abuse are interconnected, "intersectional", endemic, pandemic, and pervasive. Our precious, innocent children seem to be canaries dying in the coal mine. But too many don't care enough (including me). There are other canaries too (dying species, melting glaciers, trends toward fascism, vulnerable women and elderly, transgender persons, George Floyd, et al). I still believe in prayer- including as a cry for help in pain, grief, frustration, helplessness. But I sometimes wonder what even God can do, much less me or us together. Kyrie eleison! (P.S. There are many fine groups and courageous individuals in the gun control movement, but is there anyone working on a comprehensive plan and strategy? Just wondering.)