We cannot, by our own devices, eliminate violence or evil...

I do not think that legislative acts can rid the world of violence. Nor do I consider it possible to guarantee that we will never experience another mass shooting of innocent people. Ultimately, we need and depend on transformation, which we cannot accomplish by our own devices. I do not long for a world void of firearms. Those who purchase firearms for sporting activities, hunting, and protection have rights protected by our constitution. In 1966, I joined our high school debate team. One of our assigned issues was gun control. For the next four years I argued both for and against gun control. Most of the arguments have not changed. Yet, I join those who consider regulation of firearms and munitions long overdue and who call for an intense, honest, and inclusive discussion of the issues.

Three months ago Nancy and I adopted a dog through Southwest Ohio Doberman Rescue. We began the process by completing several pages of paperwork, including considerable personal information. After that initial screening, two people came to our home to assess our character and the place where an adopted dog would live. Then the agency consulted our references. Only then did we receive permission to visit the shelter. After that went well, they allowed us to see the dogs and select one. Only after another visit and additional pages of paperwork did Blake come home to live with us. It has been a while since I purchased a firearm, but friends assure me that I could come home with a handgun, shotgun, or rifle much more easily. Surely the time is long overdue for an intense, honest, and inclusive discussion of who should have the right to own a firearm.

I never have shot clay pigeons, but I hunted with my dad years ago and would be open to that with our children and/or their spouses. I enjoy the out-of-doors and the taste of fresh game. I hunted with a simple shotgun or rifle. Many today prefer semiautomatic weapons that resemble those used by the military. When I hunted, I could discharge my weapon three or seven times before reloading. Today's preferred firearms accept clips that allow the rapid discharge of twenty or thirty rounds before reloading. One "novelty" clip holds one hundred rounds. Do ordinary citizens need such powerful weapons and the capacity to fire that often before rearming?

I shot a wolf to protect a flock of sheep, lived in a place fifteen to twenty minutes from the closest law enforcement office, and worked the midnight shift in a convenience store near the edge of town. Some citizens have legitimate need for different and more powerful weapons. A person who shoots for sport may enjoy a weapon that can discharge often without pausing. Exceptions will be needed and it may be best to have some munitions available and allowed only in certain places. Yet, surely the time is long overdue for an intense, honest, and inclusive discussion of what firearms and munitions should be available for sale to the public.

Our denomination's 219th General Assembly (2010) adopted a resolution that called us to advocate to:

a. limit legal personal gun acquisition to one handgun a month;

b. require licensing, registration, and waiting periods to allow comprehensive background checks, and cooling-off periods, for all guns sold;

c. close the "gun show loophole" by requiring background checks for all gunbuyers;

d. ban semiautomatic assault weapons, armor piercing handgun ammunition, and .50 caliber sniper rifles;

e. advocate for new technologies to aid law-enforcement agencies to trace crimeguns and promote public safety;

f. raise the age for handgun ownership to the age of twenty-one; and

g. eliminate the Tiahrt Amendment to annual appropriations for the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) that impedes local law enforcement agencies in their use of gun traces and requires the Justice Department to destroy within two hours the record of a buyer.

We could begin the discussion there.

I have refrained intentionally from quoting scripture because people who respect scripture can and do disagree on issues related to gun control. I'll simply note that I consider my position consistent with the gospel and the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We cannot, by our own devices, eliminate violence or evil. We can make ourselves more available for transformation. May we so do.

           

Advent Blessings,

LP

Welcoming the fullness of Jesus' coming...

"Come, thou long expected Jesus." "Jesus comes with clouds descending." "O come, O come, Emmanuel." "Prepare the way, O Zion, your Christ is drawing near." Christians sing phrases like those throughout Advent. Sermons and liturgies echo words of expectation of the coming of Jesus. Many ignore the words and focus on the preparations and festivities. What about the rest of us? What do we think and mean when we sing those words?

Count me among the followers of Jesus who do not anticipate this year or any year the return of Jesus on a cloud, the replacement of this earth or cosmos with a new one, and/or the cataclysmic end of all that is to inaugurate a new beginning. Whatever transpires between now and 7.6 billion years from now when our sun explodes and incinerates this planet, I do not anticipate that kind of a "second coming" of Jesus. That does not mean that I do not believe and anticipate when I sing, "O come, O come, Emmanuel." I believe Jesus comes and long for the fullness of his coming.

Jesus comes when someone feels drawn into a community of people baptized into his life and ministry and accepts his embrace and theirs. Jesus comes when someone rejects the darkness of ways of life that lead only to brokenness and chooses to follow the demanding but light-filled paths that lead to wholeness. Jesus comes when a weary soul crosses the final threshold certain that the eternal embrace of the Creator and not an empty void awaits. Jesus comes when Palestinians and Israelis take steps toward a future that makes room for each other and brings them and all closer to shalom/salaam. Jesus comes when those with more than enough share with those who have too little, not because they feel sorry for them or because they fear eternal punishment, but because we all come from, return to, and live in the same presence.

That does not mean that everything depends on us. I believe and have seen and experienced something to the contrary. When we participate in Jesus' life, ministry, death, and resurrection, we encounter a presence and reality not our own. On the way to a "good deed," goodness itself sometimes greets us. We did not bring it or create it; yet we bask in it. Sometimes that same presence and reality find us as we seek to follow a different lord. Light shines on us as we seek darkness and something true within us awakes. Despite all the evil of which we are capable, I believe and have experienced that we are drawn into deeper, more meaningful, more compassionate, and more loving relationships. Jesus comes as we step toward that and Jesus comes to draw us into that.

We cannot predict or control when Jesus comes; yet, he comes every Christmas Eve. Year after year he has come into the sanctuary in the moments immediately following the candlelight singing of "Silent Night." Darkness surrounds us, but all are bathed in light. We all bear separation within, but feel bound to each other. Wars and rumors of war abound, but in those moments peace reigns and rules. Our staff works hard to prepare for that moment, but we do not create it. Yet, it comes. Jesus comes. Jesus comes, and although it is not the fullness of his coming, in that moment I can receive no more. With other travelers, I accept the gift and recommit to continue the journey with renewed awareness and thanksgiving that I do not travel alone. Even so, Jesus, come.

Advent Blessings,

LP

The effectiveness of lowered lights, quieter spaces and scents

As I mentioned last week, during a recent study leave Nancy and I experienced some different forms of contemporary worship and discussed them with those who planned and led the services. Discussions of alternative worship often focus on a more casual atmosphere and a different style of music. Our conversations touched those topics, but focused on providing more sensory experiences and drawing on often overlooked parts of our heritage. The services we experienced sought to address spiritual hungers not always fed in typical forms of worship, whether traditional or more modern.

Other than Christmas Eve and Holy Week services, most worship settings bathe the congregation and/or the leaders in light. The services in which we participated featured soft lighting throughout the worship space and made use of many candles. Even the musicians and message givers stood in relatively dim light. That invited us to focus on the words and to contemplate. Sound and the presence of God often seemed to emerge from dimness, which I considered a powerful visual metaphor. Yes, Luke says Paul was struck by a blinding light and the Exodus narrative says that God led the people by a pillar of fire; but Abraham heard his call beneath a canopy of evening stars and Psalm 18 describes God with a covering of darkness. Settings with dimmer light call us to choose where to focus, a beneficial spiritual practice in a world of ceaseless distractions.

The services also offered more relative silence. Perhaps because of the dimmer light, the time taken between segments of the service did not feel uncomfortable. Even the songs we sang seemed to have more space between the words. The author of Psalm 131 describes entering God's presence as "I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother." In times of sustained silence, we learn not to rush to fill what we perceive to be a void. With less sounds for our outer ears to hear, we can listen with our inner ear.

During the prayers of the people, the worship spaces offered a variety of places where worshippers could go to meditate. Some had only candles, some featured icons or artwork, and some had a painted or printed word or phrase to ponder. I enjoyed the time to reflect and unexpectedly enjoyed the journey from prayer center to prayer center. Quiet glances connected worshippers. A sense of anticipation accompanied the journey, making the movement itself a prayer, something akin to what Celtic Christians called peregrination. Those who led these prayers suggested praises and intercessions, but did not attempt to speak for us, which invited spontaneity into our guided prayers.

The aroma of candles and incense filled the room. One leader censed the communion table and another anointed with chrism the foreheads of those who sought that symbol of prayer and God's presence. Paul's description of the faithful as "the aroma of Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:15) came to mind, as did times when candle wax, fresh fruit, and other scents pointed to the presence of God during worship.  

Not everything we experienced would work in one of our Sunday morning services; nor should it. All that happened reawakened my desire to help all of us use all of our senses to receive the gifts of God and offer ourselves to God. Thanks for the study leave, MWPC.

Grace and Peace,

LP