After Aurora

My prayers are with the victims and their families and friends of Aurora, Colorado. I am praying, also, for the shooter and his family and friends. Such pain and heartbreak. Such indescribable isolation and grief for all.


Over the course of the last few days I have listened intently to the news broadcasts about the events of that night in a place which seems so far away, yet brought next door through the technology of our day. Time after time, the horrific details are presented by newscasters trying to view a tragedy from every possible angle and, time after time, the unblinking eye of the camera is simply incapable of capturing the crimson of the blood, the torn flesh, the fading horror of the screams, or the acrid smell of a gunpowder filled auditorium. Truth be told, I'm not sure many of us could stand it if they could.

We are the incidental observers of disaster, wanting to know every detail, wanting to assist where we can . . . and desiring to place blame as quickly as possible, so as to assuage our personal and corporate consciences of any connection to what has happened. If we can blame the shooter, if we can name the company who supplied him with his protective apparel, if we can identify the places from which he bought his weapons, and if we can take a stance against the way this person acted, then maybe we have named the evil and sheltered ourselves from it ever touching us or being related to our lives. "Could it be me? No, it couldn't be me!" is our collective mantra, much like the disciples on the night Jesus was betrayed.

Guns. "If we could just outlaw guns!", a number of people of said. I suspect there were quite a few folk around in the days our Lord walked the earth who thought similar things about crosses. "Damn crosses! Those things should be outlawed!" I suspect, too, if we could have things our way, the same would be said about incendiary devices, tanks, bombs, landmines, drones, missiles and warships, much as in days gone by people said the same about arrows, spears, jagged war clubs and even pointed stones. 'If only we could take away or properly regulate access to such things, everything would be alright.' Thus, was birthed the party planks upon which politicians of every age have stood. Still, the problem remains that no-one is certain how to name or address: the human condition.

Since Cain rose up against Abel and slew him over a perceived slight, humankind has been in the business of killing. Killing for property, over mates, for money, for power, over food, even for the notoriety it can bring . . . you name it, humanity has and will kill for it. Weapons are a means to an end. It matters little which weapon is at hand when one person or a group of persons desire a way to make their point or to accomplish their task. Pointing our fingers at guns and saying, 'There, that's the problem!' when something like Aurora, Colorado occurs is like picking up a book of matches or a lighter when an arsonist works their evil and saying, 'Here! This is the problem!'

No, my friends, the problem is far deeper than either guns or matches. Fact is, I am not nearly qualified to name it, but I know it when I see it. You do, too. The problem manifests itself in many ways, insidiously weaving itself into and through the very fabric of every one of our lives, so tightly so, that to name it is to implicate the sin of our own living and that would simply be too painful. So, it is easier to legislate the means by which evil does its work, then to identify the complicity we have in the issue.

That we not get lost in the depth of despair of such a truth, God comes to us in Jesus. God takes on our humanity. God shows a higher way, a more intimate manner to live in relationship with the other. God honors the spirit in each one with the Holy Spirit for each one . . . and we are called the do the same.

Where honoring the integrity of God's creation in each other breaks down, crosses rise up. Guns are fired. Matches are lit. Food is not shared. Medical attention is not given. Water is not poured out. Strangers are not welcomed. The sick are not given care. Good News is not spoken to the imprisoned . . . and we can name such moments with terms like Holocaust, World Wars Ruanda, Ethiopia, Apartheid, World Trade Center, and now, Aurora, Colorado . . . and in the end, both victim and aggressor are left diminished, grief-stricken and despairing. For the victim, the violence of being selected and marginalized is crushing and, for the aggressor, the violence is seldom enough.

Yes, I guess the press and the masses are right. It is easier to address gun control and what kinds of weapons are available to what kinds of people, than it is to say we are a part of the problem. Yet, it is in the moment of confession, in the humility of admitting we are complicit in the crosses of every age, of this age, that finally, fully, we can become a part of the solution. It is not until we dare to see the other with the eyes of Jesus that we will ever be truly free and it will not be until we dare to walk the faith with Jesus that we know the joy of fully living. In such moments true change occurs in creation, but until we move there we will never know.

My prayers are with the victims and their families and friends in Aurora, Colorado. May God's Peace, Love and Grace keep each of them. And, may God forgive the part of James Holmes that is in every one of us . . . which deepens my awe of the Christ who said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."