A Dark Day

So many times in the life of the church, from the Lenten season and Holy Week to our celebrations of communion and many others in between, we speak of Christ “shedding his blood for us”.  Few of us can truly imagine what that means.  We can relate to cuts and accidents - or times when we’ve been with another person who has bled profusely.

For some the sight of blood is enough to make them pass out or get sick.  And yet, how vital it is with each pulsation of our bodily functioning.

For all who follow Christ, it is through his crucifixion and “shedding of blood” that we come to know salvation and just how much it is that “God so loved the world.”

By now, you may be wondering why I would be focusing on something typically spoken about during Lent.  It is because of a deep sadness in my soul over the unnecessary spilling of blood both abroad and at home.  What human beings are capable of doing to other human beings is both sickening and abhorrent.   The war in Ukraine these past months has me crying on the inside.  The recent shootings at a super market in Buffalo, a Presbyterian Church here in Southern California and Robb Elementary School in Texas have me crying on the inside and the outside.

To say that mass shootings in our country are a problem of faith puts the blame in the wrong place.  Faith matters in all aspects of life and individual choices.  However, what we are facing is a societal problem and can only be fixed by political  will.  I certainly don’t have all the answers and I doubt anyone does.  But to do nothing but offer thoughts and prayers will never change this high incidence of mass killings.  For now, I am left with questions.

When will enough be enough?   When will the good and safety of all (especially our children) be more important than protecting “practically every freedom of gun ownership”?  Why do we not have better background checks when nearly 90% of Americans support such change?  Why do people need to have semi-automatic and automatic guns?  With more mass shootings in 2022 than there have been days thus far in the year, why are people becoming more and more numb to the shedding of blood brought about by the piercing of bullets into the bodies of innocents?  When will enough be enough?

I could end there with a sense of despair and hopelessness, but I believe God calls us to do better – and time will tell.  In the meantime our faith calls us beyond the present sadness.  As our text from this past Sunday asks,

“Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise God,
my help and my God.” (Psalm 42:5)

To Life!

Rev. Dr . David D. Young
Senior Minister