Kyrie eleison: on the Newtown, Connecticut, shooting

My heart breaks for the children, families, and community of Newtown, Connecticut today. Although I do not believe God causes or intends violence in the world, the phrase "Kyrie eleison," ancient Greek for "Lord, have mercy," keeps running through my mind. In a more extended form, this is my prayer:

Mothering God, bring comfort to those who mourn. God of justice and mercy, teach us what changes we can make in our society to prevent such tragedies, and give us the courage to persevere in the face of opposition. Holy One, remind us once more that we are all your children, all sisters and brothers in one human family, all inextricably woven together in the fabric of creation, and transform us by that knowledge to regard one another with love. In the name of Jesus, who was called the Prince of Peace, I pray. Amen.

A quick Google search for "school shooting" yields 163,000,000 results. After the Wikipedia entry for the category, the names of places display like a devastating roll call: Amish school shooting. Rio de Janeiro. Emsdetten. Kauhajoki. Rocori. Maryland. Ohio. Although it has yet to reach the top 10 results, today's tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, leaving 18 children (kindergarteners) and 10 adults dead, is sure to show up soon. A friend posted on Twitter that there have been 31 school shootings since Columbine - and that doesn't include movie theaters, Sikh temples, camps, malls, and other places that should be safe.

I have opinions about what we as a society should do at the policy level, to make mental health services more available and guns, especially automatic or semi-automatic weapons, less so. And I have theological beliefs about what God desires for humankind (abundant life, justice, love, wholeness). And I am so grateful for my friends and colleagues who are making eloquent arguments that unite those two arenas in urgent calls to action - because I do not believe that prayer, by itself, is sufficient response. I believe God calls us to put prayer into action, to help bring about the kin'dom of heaven on earth.

But right now, I have a sermon to finish writing, about light in the darkness, about longing for something brighter and muddling through, about choosing joy in the midst of struggle. And so I pray that if, today, you need to turn off the news to be kind to yourself, to show love for your family, to cultivate peace in your own heart, that you will do that. And I pray that we will engage in conversation, as friends and family, as communities, as a nation and as a global society, about how to care for those with mental illness, how to stay connected to people who are troubled so they do not reach the extremes of despair and isolation, how to protect children and other vulnerable people, how to prevent violence and offer healing to those who carry the scars of violence in body, mind, or spirit, and how together we can move toward a vision of a world of justice, peace, compassion, and joy.

Prayer for General Conference

So much for weekly blogging... I will post life/work/ministry updates sometime in the coming weeks, but for now I just wanted to share a prayer I am working on music for, as delegates from around the world meet in Tampa, Florida, to decide matters of great importance regarding the structure, policies, practices, and official teachings of The United Methodist Church. Others are doing excellent work reporting and reflecting on the specifics of those decisions; I am following along as time allows, and holding all involved in prayer.

Prayer for #GC2012

May our conversations be holy
May every vote be bathed in prayer
May we listen well to those who are on the margins
May we always speak with care

May we hear the voices of all God's children
May we always offer grace
May we see the image of Christ in one another
When we stand face to face

May the Holy Spirit lead us forward
through this valley of tears
May God's will be done on earth as in heaven
until we find healing and peace.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

A week after the initial reaction to the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden, I am still pondering the different views and responses reported in the media.

I was troubled to hear of Americans celebrating publicly, as it called to mind how extremists in other countries publicly celebrated attacks on our country and our people. The death of another human being, no matter how evil the acts that human perpetrated in life, is not cause for celebration when we remember that all people are created in the image and likeness of God.  No question, the life that bin Laden lived in no way reflects my understanding of how God calls us to live, and the image of God in bin Laden was greatly distorted, like a mirror that has warped and grown filthy with neglect, so that the image it reflects bears little resemblance to the original. But still. Jesus taught his followers to love their (our) enemies, and I have a hard time believing that he meant we should kill them.

Yes, I understand the political perspective of reducing violence by eliminating a significant source of messages of hate and a coordinator of terrorist activities.  But I don't feel significantly safer than I did two weeks ago.  Maybe I am blessed to live in ignorance or denial of the threat I was under that has now been "neutralized." But I keep coming back to how war and the language of war seek to dehumanize the enemy, and end by dehumanizing all of us.  Words like "eliminate" and "neutralize," words like "operation" and "target" all serve to distance us from the fact that the U.S. kills people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong.

In all of the political rhetoric, I have been particularly intrigued by the use of the word "justice." President Obama announced that "Justice has been done," and many others have picked up on this theme. But my question is this: What do you mean by justice? 

If justice is retribution, vengeance, eye for an eye, then how does killing one person balance out the thousands who died on September 11, and the thousands more (military and civilians) who have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?  People like to quote "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord," but the meaning of this in the Bible is that it is not up to us humans to take revenge; we are to leave that for God. (It is also worth asking whether this truly is the God in whom we believe, or whether the revelation of God in Jesus Christ leads Christians to a different understanding of who God is since this phrase was originally included in Deuteronomy some 2,500 - 3,000 years ago.)

And if justice is something other than retribution, something more like restoration, then how does taking one life make whole all those who have lost life or limb or a loved one?  This death does not erase any other, nor does it bring back life as it was before 9/11.  For any of us.

As someone who believes that God is both just and merciful, with an emphasis on wanting humans to love one another and care for creation, I do not believe that Osama bin Laden gets off scot-free for having lived a life of hatred and violence.  (My thoughts on the afterlife are a whole different post, but I'm not talking an eternity of torture in a lake of fire here, either.)  But I also feel that my faith perspective would make it extremely difficult for me to be in a position where I had to decide to end someone's life, not out of my own immediate drive for self-defense, but in a calculated, premeditated way.  If God is just, we ought to tremble for all the violence the U.S. government and military has inflicted on others on our behalf, and for the systemic/structural violence our society perpetuates on the poor, on undocumented immigrants, on African Americans and Native Americans and Muslims and LGBT people.

What is justice?  Can it coexist with violence?  Does a Christian definition of justice require something more than our American political perspective?

May God have mercy on us all.