Sandy Hook School

Yesterday on December 14, 2012 our society began an unfathomable grieving process over the loss of elementary school children in Connecticut.  I was alerted to the news in the late morning by a yellow alert box that popped up on Yahoo!News.  My policy is to never click on an AOL or Yahoo! News link, but merely to read the headline and find out later from a real source.  A little while later I was on the phone with a colleague.  It was clear he needed to talk about it.  So he told me the gist of the story. At one point he offered (as many do), "I'll just pray" or "I'll be praying for them."  I wanted to make that more, so I offered, "We need to offer prayers for their parents because there isn't any way to help the children now."
After the phone conversation, I was determined to avoid the television.  My colleague had said "It's on every channel."  I chose a little later in the day to check on my Facebook friends and family.  One most inspiring line offered was "Kyrie eleison, christe eleison, kyrie eleison, kyrie eleison."  That was what I needed.  That is what I meant when I chose to strenthen the regular impulse to general prayer my colleague mentioned; I wanted it to be stronger by making it weaker.
I believe strongly that the type of prayer needed at this time for the people directly involved, and widely for all of the human family is the simple cry for mercy.  The cry for mercy is the cry of helplessness, and helplessness describes how most of us feel.  But then there is the TV.
Eventually, I did turn it on.  Volume down.  Child out of the room.  I felt for the reporters on the ground who were plied for more details, more drama, more "breaking news."  I felt for the sheriff, still standing by the trees in the freezing cold 13 hours after the 911 call.  I was saddened by the shallow discussions of gun control (a series of issues that requires leadership, not platitudes.)  I was heartened by President Obama and Governor Malloy at their condolences. But I did not at all like the chatter; it was just what I expected.  To me it was more like inciting panic, like someone telling you over and over, "Here's something else we can't do anything about."  There were some voices of calm that I saw in my brief visit to the TV news, but mostly it was noisy hand-wringing desire for context or an easy explanation (and a little name-calling also).  "More information now" would bring relief. I contrasted this with that great Facebook post from a friend of a friend saying, "Kyrie eleison, christe eleison, kyrie eleison, kyrie eleison."
For me, a personal cry for mercy, knowing absolutely certain that my cry is joined with millions of others around the world, is somehow enough.  People have to do their jobs in the media, but that doesn't mean we cede our emotions to the panic they engender. The cry for mercy gives space.  It brings unity.  It strengthens societal fabric. 
My hope is that at this most grievous time the kyrie eleison, or something very much like it, will be our rest. 

The solution to a church’s declining influence in their community is not to become more extreme and radical, but to become more intentionally loving and helpful.

Sample Sermons in MP3

Do Your Brothers Believe You?


If God Isn't Ashamed of You, Why Should You Be?

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Freedom of Expression and Speech

So...

If we want to maintain freedom of expression, we ought to (this is an old fashioned way of saying we have a current obligation) couple responsibility to it.  This is a moral question.  "May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be..."

Towing the line isn't any fun anyway.