Praying for Uvalde
This week I am grieved by the news of the school shooting in Texas where 22 people, mostly children lost their lives. What is the role of the church in moments like these? What does Jesus call us to do? I am grieved by the other recent racially motivated shootings of grocery store shoppers in Buffalo New York and church goers in Laguna Woods California.
There is a tragedy within each of these individual tragedies. The thing that pains me the most is the collective response of our leaders. This week I read statements from victims of the Parkland and Columbine shootings decrying the reality that nothing has changed to prevent mass shootings from happening. It raises the question, what steps can we take to protect the lives of children at school, adults buying groceries, and our own safety?
The response of the church to the suffering of the world can be described in two ways. First, the church most often responds with mercy. In this case, that would be caring for victims offering condolences and support. The church is also called to respond through justice. In this case, working to make sure something changes so this situation doesn’t happen again. The joint responses of mercy and justice are the wings that carry the church forward on our mission. If we only practice mercy or only practice justice we can end up flying in circles. While we offer our prayers and condolences may we also work for change to ensure other families do not suffer the unimaginable grief the families and community of Uvalde are suffering right now.
Maybe you are asking, “but what can I do?” Here are a few ways you can combine your faith and prayers with concrete actions. You can donate to support organizations that are doing research and working to make our communities safer through gun violence prevention. You can learn about the scope of the problem by reading statistics about gun violence in our country. You can also let your elected officials know you want them to do something to prevent gun violence. These steps are all ways we can combine our faith with action, our mercy ministry with justice ministry.
