The Violent Dark and the Coming of the Light

I began this blog last Monday, and the busy events of this last week intervened before I completed it. Maybe the slight passage of time will assist in the reception of these thoughts…

I have been shocked and speared through the heart these past few days by the horror of the recent shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. I am well-assured that I am not alone in these feelings. As I have struggled as a person whose call is to put into words that which is ultimately beyond description – the immensity and power of God’s love, mercy, justice and grace – I have been at a loss for an adequate way to articulate a response that is helpful, truthful, and insightful, and which does not simply regurgitate the many canards and nostrums circulating on Facebook and the Internet. 

Last Sunday, as we prepared to have our hearts lifted by the magnificent tones of our choir’s cantata, I paused before we lit the three candles of Advent to remind the congregation that it was because of just such darkness in the world and in human hearts that the Son of God was born into the world in the person of Jesus. Isaiah proclaimed that “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” John likewise proclaimed that “in him was life, and that life was the light of humankind.” I declared to them along with John that “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”

The issue before us as followers of that Light is how to engage that darkness. Astrophysicists will point out that on the physical plane, darkness is the norm on the universe. The night sky demonstrates this. The immense balls of incandescent gases we call suns are sparsely scattered here and there throughout the immensely vast blackness of space. 

Our ancestors looked up at the night sky and realized that there was light in the world only when a source of light was present. On moonless nights the dark crept ever closer. So they lit fires, devised lamps, made candles, carried torches to push back the void and extend the boundaries of the seen. This became a powerful metaphor for describing the effects of human action in the world. Philosophers and spiritual leaders enjoined their followers to act as if they were those sources of illumination in the world. 

Jesus, whom John proclaimed to be the “light that enlightens every person,” turned to all who followed him and said, “You are the light of the world.” It is important that those whose lives have been grazed by Grace to show forth that Grace, and to speak and act according to the light, rather than the dark.

As we engage in local and national conversations about this recent tragedy, I would suggest that the following points would most helpfully illuminate our conversation and decision-making:
1. Violence rips and ruptures the fabric of human community. It is a deeply serious social issue as well as a profoundly spiritual issue. We must all acknowledge the places shaped and deformed by violence in our personal lives as well as the social structures that are shaped by and help foster violence. Religious practices across the world teach the central importance of telling the truth – of confessing the way things are. Speaking the truth of how violent sentiments, words, and actions have affected us begins the conversation. 
2. Compassionate conversation is a must. We all have compassion upon the victims of such horrible atrocities as the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. What requires greater spiritual effort is to have compassion upon the perpetrator. It is becoming apparent that the shooter suffered from a serious mental illness or deficits. Many, if not most, of the people who have committed such acts have been discovered to suffer from some sort of mental or emotional condition that makes it hard if not impossible for them to emotionally connect with people or to cognitively process the consequences of their actions. Their actions do not reflect a moral decision, but rather a deficit in human development. How can we compassionately work with people who have such conditions so that their conditions will not open them to the possibility of committing dreadful acts? A national conversation on this matter is long overdue. It is also extremely important that we not demonize any person who has any form of mental or emotional disease or impairment. 
3. We also need to engage in compassionate conversation with our neighbors and fellow citizens of this country as we discern carefully how to deal with these issues in our society. As we share our fears, anger, hopes, ideas and possible solutions, we must listen from the heart of compassion rather than the incendiary rhetoric of passion. We have a choice whether to acknowledge our fears and anxieties and act upon our wisdom and higher beliefs, or to acknowledge our beliefs and act upon our fears and anxieties. The choice we make in this regard will not only set the tone for this conversation, it will also shape our future.
4. As we consider appropriate regulations upon the availability and usage of guns and other weapons, we must keep in mind that the idea of regulation is built into the wording of the Second Amendment. No right is absolute. Everything in our system of government is about self-rule and self-determination. As a right, bearing arms is subject like every other right to the carefully-considered and responsibly-reasoned decisions of all citizens of the United States. Part and parcel of this decision-making are moral insights that our religious traditions provide. The idea of self-restraint and voluntary self-denial is a moral and spiritual principle that is a marker of moral and spiritual maturity. Applied to this discussion it reminds us that a right or possibility does not create a necessity. Simply because we have the right to possess weapons does not mean that we must possess them. Just because we may feel safer by possessing weapons does not create the reality of safety. As we engage in conversations about this issue, such distinctions need to be clearly made, and all the possible consequences of any decisions we make must be addressed, regardless of the direction we choose to go. 

All of these issues are deeply spiritual precisely because they engage the deepest parts of human consciousness. These questions connect with the values we hold to be ultimate, the teachings of our religious traditions, the most noble parts of personalities, the most profound stirrings of our souls and the most tender feelings we have for our communities, friends and families. It is precisely these sentiments and ways of living that Jesus came to elevate to the highest possible state. This Christmas, may he leave the mangers in our homes and churches and enter our hearts instead.