Well, it’s going to be a hot week, hopefully the last hot one of the summer. But, all things considered, we’ve had it easy compared to other parts of the United States – or the world. A recent survey indicated that a good portion of Americans believe that their individual actions can reduce the impact of climate warming, and while our personal efforts do count, we do need a more systemic approach to the climate crisis we face.
There are many other issues that face us as a Nation, of course, apart from the heat we are experiencing. Some of them are beyond our immediate control since they occur in other states from the ones where we live.
This past week mothers cried in Nashville as a state legislator told them there would be no restrictions on guns – after all, it wasn’t his kids who were killed. We mothers need to organize like MADD – mothers against drunk driving – if we want to get anything from those old men who are afraid of losing an election. There’s a word for them: cowards.
Prayer for the Day
Listener to our words, Hearer of our hearts,
Be with us as we search for an end to gun violence;
Perceiver of our minds, Searer of our souls,
Mold us into a force that can overcome recalcitrance.
Engage us into conversation with powers and principalities,
So we are able to transform our society into one of peace.
In the name of the One who calls us to new ways of living,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
We would get rid of assault weapons. There would not be an assault weapon in the United States, whether it’s for a show or someone having it in a collection.
- Bernard Parks, former police chief, Los Angeles, California
Only with gun violence do we respond to repeated tragedies by saying that mourning is acceptable but discussing how to prevent more tragedies is not. But that’s unacceptable. As others have observed, talking about how to stop a mass shooting in the aftermath of a string of mass shootings isn’t ‘too soon.’ It’s much too late.
- Ezra Klein, political commentator
Now therefore, O kings be wise; be warned rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling, kiss God’s feet,
Or the Lord will be angry, and you will perish in the way;
For God’s wrath is quickly kindled.
Psalm 2: 10-11aa