In my lifetime JFK was assassinated. Then Martin Luther
King, Jr., then Bobby Kennedy. And then random murders escalated. Cities became
killing grounds. Wanton gang violence mushroomed.
Today the same is true. Violence mushrooms across the land.
In Chicago random shootings in nice neighborhoods, prized areas of wealth and
prestige, along boulevards and grand drives, gunshot breaks the silence from
passing cars hitting homes, windows, other cars, other drivers and passengers,
even motorcyclists randomly motoring along the roadway.
Gangs control neighborhoods in Chicago and in suburban areas. Also in New
York, Miami, Boston, LA, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Phoenix and so many
other cities. Did I say Chicago ?
Did I mention Detroit ?
Oh the waste of such lives.
We are killing our future. We are letting the lawless and
the mentally ill build our future for us without resistance. We let them buy
guns by the crate and ammo by the case. We let them roam our towns and cities
shooting up the places like it was the old west of the OK Corral. We let them.
We choose to let them. We walk away from responsibility.
We have consciously made the decision – to do nothing.
We hope that leaders and authorities working for our
governments will do this work for us unbiddingly. We hope they know that is
what we want. And need.
Of course they don’t. Elected officials control the agenda
in America .
You and I know that. So does everyone else. And those same elected officials
don’t do anything unless they think you want them to. And if you are arguing
about ideology, high taxes, abortions, text book selection, and the latest
sermons you heard in church, they know they cannot do anything. They await your
direction. And their staff await the leaders' direction.
You see how this works? When no clear voice of the people is
available, there is no leadership. We elect people but they are powerless to
do anything.
And then we – who have allowed this to happen – blame
everyone in sight but ourselves.
In Spring of 1968 Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis . And cities across
America
rioted and burned. And I responded to the unmistakable ‘call’ to the ministry.
I needed to do something about this. I needed to do something responsible and
meaningful. I just didn’t know what that was, but at least I hoped to find it
in seminary. So I went. An army of one to do the work of millions. For a
millennia. How foolish I was!
To think I could make a difference. But I still pursue the
dream. Just not in seminary or in ministry. Only as a citizen and volunteer.
Anywhere I think the work will make a difference.
Is this the modern day ‘call’ to action for each of us? Is
this our calling to minister to the needs of our sick society? I knew America was
sick in the late 1960’s. It was very sick. But it responded to the
assassinations with vigorous civil rights legislation, the war on poverty,
voting rights improvements, and the Peace Corps, the space program and so much
more.
Eating away at us was the War in Vietnam . A horrible waste of
military might and life. Oh such a waste for which we continue to pay a high
price. We did not learn our lesson in Iraq
or Afghanistan ,
either. We continued to think our power was behind the barrel of a gun or tank
or fighter jet.
Is it any wonder why citizens and gangs hide behind their
guns to kill innocent people? Is it any wonder why people don’t know who the
enemy is and so take innocent lives? Is this what is happening in America ? All
over again? I started adult life in this condition. Am I to end my adult years
in the same horrible morass?
Please choose otherwise. Please let your voice be heard. Please
open your mind and heart and let energy flow to the sinew to move, take action
and make a difference.
This is our future we are talking about. And the future of
our kids, grandkids and unborn generations of family and friends and talent and
genius yet to be.
The world needs this new juice of possibility. We need that
juice. Please squeeze a little harder and make it happen!
Please?
June 21, 2016
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