Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.” (NRSV)
Yesterday in Uvalde, Texas, nineteen children and two teachers were killed when an eighteen-year-old man, apparently coming from murdering his grandmother, entered the Robb Elementary School wearing body armor and opened fire. This follows the shooting of a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, on May 14 and a shooting at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California. And this is not to mention the murders and mass shootings that do not make the news. I can barely begin to comprehend the grief and anger that the families of these victims must be feeling. Before anything else, we must pray for them to find understanding and wholeness again.
But amid our prayers, we begin to ask the question, “Why?” What do these three shootings have in common? They seemed to be motivated by different things. The Buffalo shooter drove hours to act out a racist manifesto. The Laguna Woods shooter was a Chinese American seeking to attack Taiwanese Americans in prayer. We lack details about the Uvalde shooter, but it seems like personal reasons were the cause. In my mind, a common thread is anger, blaming others for their problems, and some form of despair over their lives.
Immediately after the incident was reported, as the death toll of the children rose and rose and rose over the course of the day, pundits, politicians, Tweeters, and the knights of the keyboard put forth angst, prayers, and potential solutions to the seemingly daily litany of death. Many people called for stricter gun-laws, but we have been having that conversation for decades and things seem unlikely to change anytime soon. Guns are too big a part of American culture and the political landscape is too divided to seek common ground. Others have called for necessary prayers, but prayers are empty if they do not lead to action. God comforts the afflicted, but there comes a point when we must act out God’s mercy in the world as well.
In my mind, the solution would be to ramp up support and training for mental health professionals, to make it easier to seek out a trained ear rather than turn to violence to solve our problems. This would require great cost and a political will that I do not see happening. But at the heart of this solution is a call to compassion, to show love to people in trouble and not the indifference that drives them to desperate and terrible acts.
And here is where our prayers can turn into action. We must seek compassion, breathe compassion, live compassion, be compassion for the people around us. We must model what it means to be a Christian by empathizing with and not judging others. We must remember that all of us are created in God’s image and that God calls us to be one in love and to be friends with Jesus and with each other. We must comfort the afflicted, especially those grieving their slain children, but also those who we easily forget or ignore or denigrate. The compassion we show to the miserable and angry can be just as powerful. Let us remind each other that there are places where everyone belongs. Let us pray for more love and understanding in the world, and let it begin with the compassion we show each other in great and small ways every day.
Prayer: Prince of Peace, grant us wisdom and mercy as we pour out are pain and anger to you. Bless those who have lost loved ones and strengthen us to love others as you love us. Amen.
If you know anyone who might be comforted by this message, please send it along to them.
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