Light in the Chaos & Darkness

I wanted to write to you about how excited I am to begin this season of Pentecost as we celebrate the Holy Spirit. But our lives have been disrupted once again by the horrors of a mass shooting- only this time it was here in our hometown. So today I weep. I found out that one of our families was on the second floor of the Natalie building on Wednesday but had left hours before the shooter had arrived. Several of our church members work for St. Francis health systems and we can not imagine how they feel. My first phone call of the day was a beloved church member who was a patient of the doctor killed and she spoke about how wonderful he was. Those lost lives were people who have cared for and nurtured our congregation. I pray for all of you who felt this so close to home and lost someone you admired.

I read an article by researchers of mass shootings who tie the perpetrators to abuse or trauma as a child. If we want to change this epidemic of violence, we must tackle bullying, fund mental health care, provide access to counseling, parenting resources and be trained on how to respond. If you would like to read this article it is here. Rev. Adam Hamilton (pastor of the largest UMC in the country) took a poll of his congregation about guns and was surprised to discover that most of them all agreed on safe storage of firearms in the home, background checks on those who purchase guns and safety training required for gun ownership. Those who want to divide us in darkness and stir up fear. But when we actually talk to each other, we discover that those of us who own guns and those that do not all just want to feel safe.

We can throw up our hands and nothing changes. Or, we can ask our legislators to address the root causes and develop better strategies to decrease the chances of school shootings and other acts of violence. There are no easy fixes and things will not change overnight. But we must join together as the people of God and say “enough”! I had a Sunday school class ask me last week if they were safe at church. I talked to them about the things that we are doing to keep everyone safe but the reality is that I can not guarantee their safety. Our staff expressed a need to have active shooter training AGAIN. My heart breaks that this is the world that we have come to expect as normal. We are broken.

Which brings me back to Pentecost. If you open your Bibles to Genesis 1 you will read about how the Holy Spirit swept over the deep darkness and chaos and brought order and light in creation. Never have we needed to believe in an awesome Spirit of God that sweeps into our lives and shapes our hearts to care about the things that Jesus cares about more than now. I invite you to wear red as we come together to lift our praises to the Holy One asking for courage and assurance that even in this mess, God is still working. Mark Fowler and I made a silly Pastor Talk video about the Holy Spirit if you need something to lighten your day.

With much love,