The sky is almost clear. In the early morning sunrise there are just the wisps of clouds, appearing pink because of the sun behind them. Most of the trees have now lost their leaves so there are just the outlines of bare branches. We think, “It’s a new month. Let’s hope that this month will bring the cheer we associate with Christmas.”
But the news around us doesn’t seem to offer much hope. Yesterday in Oxford, a small town of about 3500 people, a 15-year old student used a 9 mm Sig Sauer, advertised as a “force to be reckoned with,” to kill 3 students and wound 8. Rather than idiots running around the country decrying critical race theory, maybe they should worry about the ease of access to guns.
During this Advent Season, we must not give up hope, even when a Congress refused to block AR-15 purchases even after the massacre at Sandy Hook. Hope is more than simply wishing that things would get better. Hope means we must act in the expectation of change. Hope means we call down those elected representatives who scrape to the gods of money they receive from the NRA and gun manufacturers. That is hope.
Prayer for the Day
So blind that we are unaware of our sin of inaction,
We ask that you open our eyes, O God, to evil in our midst;
Not wanting to create trouble, O Lord, we silently grieve,
While evading our culpability for our apathy.
Empower us, Holy One, so we bring hope into this world,
And enable us to act and speak with courage.
In the name of him who showed us how to live,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
We lose eight children and teenagers to gun violence every day. If a mysterious virus suddenly started killing eight of our children every day, America would mobilize teams of doctors and public health officials. We would move heaven and earth until we found a way to protect our children. But not with gun violence.”
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, from her book, A Fighting Chance
I used to think it was possible for an artist to alter the inner life of the culture. Now bomb-makers and gunmen have taken that territory.
Don DeLillo, American novelist
Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
In arrogance the wicked persecute the poor – let them be caught in the schemes
They have devised. – Psalm 10: 1-2