Sermon / ADVICE FROM THE CLERGY : On Preserving Compassion Amid Violence

The nearly ubiquitous presence of guns, and the awful violence they unleash, does more to us and our society than kill people.

I confess that there are times when I say to myself that at least those gang members killed in shootouts are dead gang members. They won’t be shooting anyone again. And I wonder why there don’t seem to be fewer guns and shootings and gang members after so many have been shot. I say, “Well, at least they’re shooting each other.”

What do these words signify, if not a loss of compassion or caring that these were human beings? who liked love, little children and ice cream cones? They were someone’s son, and now mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters will grieve their loss as though the young man were more special than criminal. But these aren’t the compassionate thoughts I have when watching the television news or reading the newspaper.

I know that poverty and unemployment and drugs claim the lives of geniuses and young people with enough talent and brains to make a difference in society, but when they turn to violence and guns I lose that thought. The noise of the guns distracts us, and in the gun smoke we lose sight of the poets, painters and musicians who won’t be seen again. When the gun culture so takes away my compassion I become cold and uncaring.

So it becomes us versus them. No names. No personalities. Just protecting ourselves from them the violent ones with their stupid guns. This is what is happening to us. It is neither noble nor uplifting.

And what of communitarian values? How can there be a sense of community if we can’t walk or drive freely where we will? How can there be a sense of community when the community schoolyard can be a target for a wild gunman? How can there be community in schools when a student may pull a gun on a teacher or classmates, and the classroom becomes a The noise of the guns distracts us, and in the gun smoke we lose sight of the poets, painters and musicians who won’t be seen again.

place of death? How can there be a school community when students have to be checked for guns? This has been taken from us, the possibility of community in places that should be places of safety and security. This is what the National Rifle Assn. and the rest of the gun culture has taken from us. So once every year or so I send a check to Handgun Control Inc. Big deal. It doesn’t make me feel safer, or give back my security or community. It doesn’t restore lost lives or take guns from the streets. At least not yet.

So what else do we do except support efforts to control guns? We live our lives as though there will be a tomorrow. We drive as though we will get where we intend. We walk as though we will get home safely. And we live this way in order to live.

The alternative is to fortify our homes and stay in as though there is no world outside our thin little walls, which can’t stop a bullet anyway.

From the moment of birth we haven’t known when, where or how we will die. Whether we fear death or not, and whether we would wish to live to a ripe old age, we must live every day to the fullest, as though death does not exist. We must still take time to look at the mountains and the stars, and take time for simple pleasures. There is a good bottle of wine to uncork and good food to be eaten. There are love and laughter and tears to remind us that we are still alive. There is still the richness of our inner lives and more to learn about ourselves. There is more wisdom to gain. There are families and friends to care about. There is music to sing and hear. The gifts of the spirit are endless.

I would have us try to keep our caring and compassion in spite of the gun culture. I would have us try to fight back where and when we can. But above all, I would have us live the abundant life, the rich life of the spirit of life that knows no end.