The Shadow of Violence
Three separate events occurred this week that disturbed my spirit. First, there were two deaths in a home in Storey Park where a man and woman died of gunshot wounds. Second, two threats of gun violence at Innovation middle school in the last 10 days that caused panic among the student population. Third, a foiled assassination plot against former president Trump in West Palm Beach, Florida.
As Christians we worship Jesus Christ, the “Prince of Peace.” Yet, we live in a world that feels anything but peaceful. How do we navigate this disconnect? As we reflect on this question, I invite us to reflect on what violence is and how this form of sin functions. Remember that sin separates us from God. Violence as experienced in Storey Park this week severed relationships as it took away life. Even the threat of violence separates us from a sense of safety which is essential for relationship building and learning. Perpetrators of violence allow themselves to be separated from who God created them to be. The increase in political violence we are seeing throughout our country deepens polarization, further separating us from people on the other side of the political aisle, making it harder to see our shared humanity.
As people of faith, how do we respond when confronted with violence? Two things come to mind, protect the vulnerable and lament. Jesus practiced caring for the vulnerable by asking John to care for his likely widowed mother from the cross (John 19:26-27). Jesus practiced lament when he prayed for Jerusalem naming it as the city that kills prophets in Matthew 23:37-39.
When I heard the story of a middle schooler who is connected to our church having a panic attack while begging her mom to come pick her up from school, it troubled my spirit. I felt disturbed again when a highschooler shrugged his shoulders in response to the news about threats of violence in local schools in a way that seemed he was numb to it or had accepted this as something that happens in a normal week. Maybe he just didn’t have the capacity to process another event like this one. Middle and high school students shouldn’t fear for their safety. As we process, may we respond by caring for each other and lamenting.
Lament is something many of us Christians aren’t very comfortable with and yet it is an important part of our faith journey. We lament by telling the truth about sin and death. We lament by naming the tragedy of Good Friday and the tragedies that occur in our world today. We practice lament with hope because we know that the deepest and darkest reality of sin is never the end of God’s redemption story, Easter is coming. I invite you to join me in this lament, I’d like to hear what God says to you and what you feel the Spirit nudging you to do as we respond to the painful events of this past week.
