Has violence become so "normal" in our country that now we are having to witness a large group of children become victims of our country's addiction to fear, which has led to our addiction to wars, weapons, fighting, and revenge? Has fear become so "normal" that we feel we have to have weapons, that are "normally" used in wars, that are so destructive and devastating, in the hands of anyone who just wants one because they can get one? For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power and love and self-discipline....2 Timothy 1: 7 Where do we need more self-discipline?.... Violent lyrics in our music, violent television shows and movies, and violence glorified by the media seems to have become "normal" for us, and now, yet again, we are experiencing the consequences of this "normal". I literally just got interrupted by my son, while writing this, who is playing a math game that involved a monster and shooting. A math game that also includes violence. Why does a math game need to include violence in order for it to be fun? So, the message to my son is: Violence is fun and you can be violent and learn your math facts. So violence must be good. And as he walked away from the game, he is now making shooting sounds. This is a "normal" everyday occurrence for many parents. It has become "normal" to expect heightened, and adjusted, security measures in our schools, our airports, our federal buildings, and even in our homes to try and combat what has become "normal". When we turn on our local news in the morning, it is "normal" to hear the latest robberies, murders, sexual abuse cases, homicides, domestic abuse events, and drunk driving accidents. It has become "normal" for everyone to question why God could allow these terrible tragedies to happen. We immediately turn to God, and ask "why" and put it in His lap, enabling our fearful and violent "normal" to continue.
As we prepare for Christmas, with the birth of Christ, came a way to transcend this fearful and violent "normal" and create a new action-centered "normal." Everyone is suggesting we have an honest "conversation" about the tragedy, guns in our country, and violence in general. Even conversations have become the "normal" result, resulting in absolutely nothing, but a future tragedy. Jesus came to show us how to take our "conversations" to the next level. But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise you are only fooling yourselves. James 1: 22 This verse could also read, Anyone who continues to talk over and over about what God would have us do, and still does nothing to change the situation is only fooling themselves. Jesus came to show us how we have been fooling ourselves. Jesus came to show us how we have allowed "apathy" to become "normal". Blame has become "normal". Division has become "normal". Mental illness is "normal", preventing mental illness and caring for the mentally ill, is not. Making money through the sale of guns has become more important than keeping our children alive, and that is "normal". Desperate people doing desperate things has become "normal". How much of this "normal" are we going to accept? How much more of this "normal" are we going to allow.
Many of us respond to a tragedy with the belief that Only God knows. Only God could understand. Or, God works in mysterious ways. There really is nothing mysterious about this. What is mysterious, is why human beings continue to cling to our "violent" normal in all facets of our lives... from our newscasts, to our music, to our movies and television shows, to our video games, right down to the words we choose to use on a daily basis, and then wonder why tragedies like the one in Newtown, CT. happen. What is mysterious is why we say we believe that God is all-powerful, and with God we have nothing to fear, and yet we continue to believe that if we don't carry a gun, someone is going to get us. What is mysterious is how we have made fear more powerful than God, that fear manifesting itself in weapons, that we believe we have to have. What is mysterious is the fact that God has given us free will to make choices, and when we make choices that continue to enable violence, and we do nothing to prevent it, we blame God. What is mysterious is that many of us have been taught the Ten Commandments...Thou shalt not kill, and we continue to create and foster an environment that invites unnecessary death. We cannot blame this one on God, or put this in the category of the "mysterious" ways in which God works. God, by design, gave us free will, so that we might be able to act when necessary to change our sinful "normal" into an expected miracle. Miracles must become our normal.
Christmas is about the birth of a "new normal", and Jesus, and how he lived his life was "the new normal" the salvation, that he came to show us how to act upon. God will save us from our current sinful "normal" when we decide we've had enough of the violence and we put our money, our laws, our time, and our priorities into a violence-free world. God is waiting on us to use the gift of our free will to bring about the peaceful, happy, safe world, we all say we long for. This is what Christmas is all about....asking God to show us how to act, what to do, and how to do it, and then trusting that He will provide the power, the love, the time, the money, the people, the resources, the energy, and the grace of active commitment to do it. Jesus lives when we allow other people to live!
This time, lighting candles isn't going to be enough. Saying our prayers isn't going to be enough. Crying isn't going to be enough. Reading the bible isn't going to be enough. Only carefully discerned action can stop the violence. Every person can do a "violence inventory" of our lives. Do I have a gun, and for what reason, what kinds of shows, toys, movies, and video games do I allow my children, and myself, to watch, what parts of the bible do I use as bullets in order to justify my fear-based addiction, when I feel fear, what do I think, say, and do? How is our favorite sports leading to violence, and what words in my vocabulary do I use that might even have a hint of violence in it? Even the phrase, I'm going to kill you, which all of us think and use at one time or another, can be eliminated. Everything matters. This isn't just a gun control issue, it is an economic, health care, and national safety issue. Every facet of our life is impacted by violent tragedies. We go to war over terrorism and wonder why anyone would want to commit an act of terrorism toward our country, when our country literally vibrates with the energy of terrorism on our streets, in our neighborhoods, our schools, and our homes. What is true for ourselves is true for our country. We are only getting back what we have "put out"....what we have allowed to grow in our hearts eventually manifests itself in the physical world.
We can't afford to "soul search" anymore. We must "soulfully act" now in whatever capacity God asks us to, and God is not just asking, God is begging us.
Tomorrow, I am going to take all three of my children to their schools, to learn, and be under the guidance and protection of their schools, trusting that they will come home to me happy, safe, and untouched by violence. Every morning, I pray from the book, The Power of a Praying Parent, by Stormie Omartian. She has several prayers in there for protection that I say every day, and after what happened this past Friday, I am affirmed in why I choose to wake up an hour earlier than my children and pray for their needs. The power of prayer will see us through, but even more important, the power of united action, will change our violent normal into a new peaceful, loving, forgiving normal. May this Advent/Christmas season usher in a "new normal", a prayerful and Holy Spirit- calculated, and intentional action-oriented solution to ending all tragedies.
Psalm 27
The Lord is my light and my salvation
so why should I be afraid?
The Lord is my fortress protecting me from danger,
so why should I tremble?
When evil people come to devour me,
my heart will not be afraid,
even if I am attacked,
I will remain confident.
For he will conceal me there when troubles come;
he will hide me in his sanctuary.
He will place me out of reach on a high rock.
I am confident I will see the LORD's goodness
while I am here in the land of the living.
1. What, or who, causes us to be fearful, preventing us from taking action when the call to action is so urgent?
2. How did you react to the tragedy in CT, or any of the many other violent tragedies our country has faced? What image of God do you turn to in these events?
3. What gives you hope for a peace-filled future? What is your part in that peaceful future? What can you do today, tomorrow, and in the weeks to come?
4. What is just one change you can make toward that peaceful future?
