June is a special month for remembrances and commemorations. In June we celebrate Pride and our LGTBQ+ community. This year we saw the passage of Juneteenth as a federal holiday. We remember the Emanual Nine and lift up prayers for the survivors, which many of us at Saint Peter had a chance to do on Wednesday, June 16th, during the Evening Prayer service (see below). It is fitting that we also take the month of June to raise awareness about gun violence, seeing that LGTBQ+ and people of color are often victims of gun violence.
Gun violence touches all of us. Every day, more than 100 Americans are killed with guns and more than 230 are shot and wounded. These survivors are faced with a life-long process of physical and emotional healing. Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States. Every year, more than 3,000 children and teens are shot and killed and another 15,000 are shot and wounded. This is an average of nine killed and 42 wounded every day (change.org).
The state of Colorado is notorious for the numerous mass shootings that have lasting effects on the communities and survivors. In 2021 alone, 10 people were killed in Boulder at a King Soopers, seven people attending a birthday party died in Colorado Springs, and the week of this writing, three people were killed in a shooting in Arvada. A veteran police officer was among the dead.
Katie Day, writing for the Journal of Lutheran Ethics, asks, “How have we, as a country, continued to accept the unacceptable level of gun deaths, thereby working against our own self-interest? Consider the tremendous change we have seen around the issues of tobacco and drunk driving. In both cases, Americans have mobilized against well-funded corporate lobbies (tobacco and restaurant industries). Both efforts have utilized legislative and legal strategies. Both smoking and drunk driving have been framed as public health issues and have affected widespread cultural change. The result of this multifaceted strategy is that the political and the public have changed, and thousands of lives have been saved each year. Why have we not seen similar responses to gun violence? (From “Gun Violence and Christian Witness,” by Katie Day, Journal of Lutheran Ethics, May 2014, Volume 14, Issue 5.)
Understanding the effects of gun violence and the desire to stop it does not equate gun control or bans. Seeking knowledge and understanding is what we are called to do as people of faith, and as it states in Micah 6:8, “and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Poem of Lament
We noted in the Meditation and Prayer for Racial Healing on Wednesday, June 17th that, “We are addicted to violence and use weapons to resolve our differences rather than with kindness.” We have seen this in the way guns are used as tools of intimidation and control rather than peacekeeping and protection.
During the service, the group split up into breakout rooms to share words and feelings surrounding gun violence. Bethany Laurie compiled those thoughts to create this poem of Lament.
Lament - Forgiveness - Repentance
Our hearts break and our souls cry out for justice.
Sorrow, helplessness, confusion,
Rage, grief, fear.
We question why these tragedies happen again and again.
This is senseless and incomprehensible.
Yet, God and survivors offer amazing grace!
Overwhelming love, healing, peace,
Humility, faith, trust.
They give us hope and are an example for us all.
Lives are changed, love is affirmed, a path forward is revealed.
We give thanks!
Now we choose to shine a light on racism and halt its terrible pace.
Befriend, include, understand,
Advocacy, equality, love.
We choose to open ourselves to the Holy Spirit and the experiences of oppressed and marginalized people.
We choose to stand up to racism and actively work against it.
We choose to be a loving people of God.