When I conceived of this little project of an Advent blog about reclaiming the Peace of God as we prepare for Christmas, three words I never imagined using here were “military assault rifle.”
With some conviction I stood with you on the floor of the St. Alban’s nave last Sunday and said in response to the question of “Where is God in this tragedy?” that God is in our response to the hurricane and to the earthquake and to the unspeakable tragedy. I believe that is true. God is in our response of holding children close, of applauding their best efforts, of nurturing them in times of joy and of trouble. God is in our response in reaching out in compassion to the families of victims of violence and in our prayers for the new little angels on the streets of heaven.
And God is in our response to the question that the seekers asked John the Baptist in the lesson for the Third Sunday in Advent. As he preached the need for repentance, those who came to John asked: "What then should we do?"
What then, what now, should we do? What should I do?
I’ve been freshly convinced that I should join the fight, and a fight it will be, to ban the production and sale of military-style assault weapons.
Unexpectedly, this Advent this may well be the most urgent need, and the most fruitful opportunity, if we’re serious about reclaiming the Peace of God. I can’t imagine that God, coming freshly into our midst this Christmas, will be anything but appalled at the arming of our communities with these weapons of destruction. Weapons which again and again have proved, in the hands of the disturbed, to be uniquely lethal to the lives of God’s innocents.
In the days ahead, I won’t claim to speak for you, but I will speak as a parish priest and a pastor to families at risk of these machines-for-death that are of no earthly value. No one hunts a deer with a weapon designed for war. Maine is, per capita, one of the most heavily armed jurisdictions in the world. In our nation of 300 million people there are more than 300 million guns. In some communities is it more difficult to adopt a stray dog than it is to buy an assault weapon with high capacity clips of deadly, rapid firing ammunition. It literally makes no sense.
Our Maine legislators are on the fence. None of them has yet been an effective advocate for common sense gun legislation, including reinstituting the ban on assault weapons. Let’s go see them. Let’s write to them. Let’s tell them about reclaiming the Peace of God. Let’s tell them about Maine children at risk of exactly what happened at Sandy Hook School on Friday.
The time is right. The time is now. "What then should we do?" We should dedicate ourselves to sensible gun control legislation so that we never again witness the horror and tragedy of the slaughter of the innocents inflicted on Newtown, Connecticut last week.
Henri Nouwen today calls us to read again Paul’s letter to the Philippians, Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…
Thank you so much for this, Tim. I couldn't agree more. The senseless clinging to assault weapons makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. The time has come to put a stop to it.
ReplyDeleteTim, I absolutely agree with what you intend to do as our priest. I watched my brother use a 45 magnum pistol to scare me as a child by blowing away a massive puddle. It did more than that, it was a life-changing event that still has a place in my mind. In the interest of all at St. Alban's it is important that we get on the same page about this issue for the sake of our children and to put the issue out to everyone about safety. Our world is unsafe enough, assault guns are not necessary for any of us. We need to find a way to protect one another that doesn't involve guns. If our world could/would be kinder to each other and more responsive to human need rather than selfish greed it would be a better world. All of us must get on board and be on the same mind as we await the coming of the Prince of Peace.
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