At least 27 people dead, 18 of whom are children. That’s the story so far today from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Who can imagine such a horrific tragedy? Who can empathize with those parents sending their children off to another day of school for learning and fun with friends, looking forward to holiday activities over the weekend, only to hear that your child has been shot and is not coming home from school today? That experience is certainly beyond my comprehension.
In response to the news, one person posted the comment, “Well, we know the drill. Flowers, balloons, candles, and ‘Let the healing begin.’” We know the drill? This insinuates a routine. A familiar procedure. An accepted protocol. I never want to become accustomed to this kind of violence. I never want to accept a prescribed procedure for how to deal with mass killings in a school. Flowers? Balloons? Candles? I can’t even imagine a tourniquet that could begin to stem the grief. As Christians, we should never tolerate, accept, or become accustomed to this kind of violence. Never.
What response might be fitting? “Blessed are the peace makers.” We are called to continually promote and nurture peace in our world. And this means actively opposing violence. We teach math and science and English in our schools. We also need to teach peace, non violent conflict resolution, and anti violence. These are subjects that need to be addressed directly to all people.
I also want to say that I believe the media is complicit in the deaths of these children. I went to the movies recently and in the previews, I saw one bloody, violent killing after another. It was horrible and made my stomach turn. I had come to see Anna Karenina, not a series of shootings and explosions and acts of horrible violence. The violence in the entertainment sector of our culture has fostered the use of violence in the “real” world. And it has increased our level of acceptance of violence in the real world.
As followers of Jesus, we have glad tidings of great joy for ALL people. Violence is not the only way. Violence does not have to be tolerated or accepted. There is another way. There is an alternative. And Jesus shows us that alternative. It is the way of justice, community, reconciliation, respect for life, and reverence for the sacred.
There is always hope in the Christian world view. Yes, healing is possible. Not only for those families and that community ravaged by grief, but for the healing of the violence in our society and in our world. We must not only pray for that healing, we must work to make it happen. And it will take much more than flowers, balloons, and candles.
The father of one student in Newtown, Stephen Delgiadice, told reporters that his 8-year-old daughter heard two big bangs and teachers told her to get in a corner. His daughter was fine. “It’s alarming, especially in Newtown, Conn., which we always thought was the safest place in America,” he said.
We need to work to make every place, every city, every town, every school, every street, the safest place in America.
Prayer: We pray for all those who lost loved ones in the horrific killings in Newtown. We pray for the grief of the whole community. We pray for the family of the young man responsible for the deaths. We pray for everyone who has lost a loved one to violence. May we spread the glad tidings of the gospel of Jesus by working for peace and the healing of violence in our world. Amen.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 