What is it about having a gun that makes you think you can shoot at anyone, whether it’s ringing a doorbell or turning around in someone’s driveway? Apart from the issue of race in Lester’s shooting of Ralph Yarl, what is this 84-year old man doing with a gun to start with? And in the killing of Kaylin Gilllis, a 20-year old white woman who was in a car that was turning around in a driveway, why would someone just shoot at a car?
Guns. There are far too any of them in the hands of people who consider themselves law-abiding. In Texas, two cheerleaders went to the wrong car and were shot. How many of us have wandered around a parking lot looking for our car at a Home Depot lot? I use the cause stickers, not to mention a crumbling Finnish flag, on my car to identify it.
Guns. What on earth is wrong in our society where almost every Tom, Dick, and Harry can buy a gun? We say we are worried about crime and the kind of gun violence that killed 4 and wounded 32 at an Alabama Sweet 16 party—so stop the production and sale of guns. Sound extreme? So is gun violence.
Prayer for the Day
Light of our souls, we come to cast away the darkness
That holds us and contains us in its prison;
We are told we need to protect ourselves with weapons,
But we know that guns lead only to increasing violence.
Illumine us with your presence and shape our response
So we create a truly nonviolent society for all.
In the name of the One who illumines our lives,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen
Thoughts for the Day
Nearly 1 in 5 adults has had a family member killed by a gun, including in homicide and suicide, and about 1 in 6 has witnessed an injury from a gun.
- Kaiser Family Foundation Report, 2023
Gun violence feels too big, too powerful to stop. But it’s not too big for you to take some real, meaningful actions. You control what you decide you can live with, and what you can't. You can choose whether you do something, or do nothing. You are not powerless.
- Jennifer Rosen Heinz, writer, activist
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
Psalm 130: 1-2