If one part suffers (talking about the body of Christ), all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy (1 Corinthians 12:26).
Usually when I am compelled to write here it is because something I have read, or heard has jolted me.
The above line from 1 Corinthians jolted me last night at mass, as did this part of the Gospel (Luke 4: 17-21)
"He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” .
We had a visiting Priest last night, and he was with Food For The Poor (www.foodforthepoor.org/). As he said, he was there to beg on behalf of the world's poor children.
The readings were not picked to coincide with his visit (he goes to a different church every week and has to preach whatever the weekly lectionary says), the reading was part of the normal weekly lectionary.
His stories were obviously calculated to tug at the heart and purse strings, which they should have, and, in fact, they did.
For example, he told of a Jamaican mother whose 3 year old died of diarrhea from a water borne disease. The baby couldn't be saved because she couldn't afford a $3.00 jug of pedialyte.
Food For the Poor's area of operation is the Caribbean basin. Obviously the place in the news most lately is in that area - Haiti.
As Father Greg pointed out, Haiti was desperately poor BEFORE the earthquake. He said that 1 out of every 5 children there die of hunger and other things. 1 out of every 5. That should shock us, but I think a lot of times there is so much pain and suffering in the world it does not.
Which brings me to what unsettled me about 1 Corinthians 12:26.
First, it should be said that the response to the earthquake in Haiti has been generous. People have been giving their time and money in large amounts, and that's to be commended.
But, how do we account for a lot of the inaction on the continual misery and suffering prior to January 12th, the day the earthquake happened?
I'm not saying that I'm any better or any worse than anyone else at grasping this or doing anything about it, it just disturbs me. The passage is very clear - If ONE part suffers ALL the parts suffer with it.
That is so impossibly deep and heavy, I can't even start to get my mind around it. I think a lot of the time when a lot of us Christians think about "the Body of Christ", we are thinking about our own local churches, or the people that we know and deal with in our churches on a weekly basis.
But, I don't think that's what this is talking about. I think it literally tells us that if one part suffers, we all should be suffering. A long time ago, when people were insulated, and were not exposed to a large part of the rest of the world, this was probably a little easier.
But, now, we can see the horror from Port Au Prince and other places. What excuse do we have of not knowing of the suffering of our brothers and sisters all over the world?
Stories have been told recently about Christians in Haiti doing the best that they can (in some cases sharing their meager possessions) for their fellow countrymen.
To me, this is humbling and very unsettling.
One point to continually ponder - what does it mean to "suffer" with all the parts of the body of Christ?
How deep are we supposed to go in that suffering? A few, like Mother Teresa and Dorothy Day were called to go all the way. Leaving all they had behind and going to live day to day, year after year with the poor.
But, for the rest of us, how deep are we supposed to go? That is a question that has disturbed me, and a question that will continue to disturb me.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Friday, December 25, 2009
On Retreat, Holy Cross Abbey, 09OCT06, Tuesday AM
It's been awhile since I posted any retreat notes. I meant to post them right away. Don't know if it's even a good thing to do to post them at this late date.
09OCT06 (AM Tuesday): At Mass this AM the Gospel reading was Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42). Martha was upset because Mary wouldn’t help.
Jesus said “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things”
Me too. All of them come to me being here – being away from work, family, etc. and felling a little guilty about getting to be here. Thinking about all who cannot.
Then Jesus says “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her”
My prayer for today is that I focus on the ONE thing I came here to do. No thoughts of what my future may hold.
Just today.
“Do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil” (Matthew 6:34)
These are words that have meant a lot to me. They are hard – I have a tendency to worry. They are hard but comforting.
It is also interesting that prefacing this is the verse that says “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides (Matthew 6:35). More hard words.
I can confidently say that I never do this (seek first his kingdom). Instead I just worry, worry, worry, where it’s all going to come from.
09OCT06 (AM Tuesday): At Mass this AM the Gospel reading was Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42). Martha was upset because Mary wouldn’t help.
Jesus said “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things”
Me too. All of them come to me being here – being away from work, family, etc. and felling a little guilty about getting to be here. Thinking about all who cannot.
Then Jesus says “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her”
My prayer for today is that I focus on the ONE thing I came here to do. No thoughts of what my future may hold.
Just today.
“Do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil” (Matthew 6:34)
These are words that have meant a lot to me. They are hard – I have a tendency to worry. They are hard but comforting.
It is also interesting that prefacing this is the verse that says “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides (Matthew 6:35). More hard words.
I can confidently say that I never do this (seek first his kingdom). Instead I just worry, worry, worry, where it’s all going to come from.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
On Retreat, Holy Cross Abbey, 09OCT05 (PM Monday)
09OCT05 (PM Monday): Most of the day spent getting here. Very pretty site. Retreat House beautiful, chapel beautiful, grounds beautiful. VERY quiet (except for mooing cows).
Hit the library first – not a lot of books – I found one – Engaging the world with Merton, On Retreat in Tom’s Hermitage by M. Basil Pennington. I’ve seen this book before but never bought it.
His goal for the retreat is:
“Some renewing experience of God and Contemplative Time. Some clarity on my vocational question”
Sounds a LOT like the first things I thought about when I came here, or first decided to do this.
Went to Vespers at 5:30, Compline at 7:30. Very interesting. Don’t know if I’ll make Vigils at 3:30AM. Certainly 7AM. I think as Pennington did in his retreat, I’ll build mine around the service times as well.
Was reading Matthew 5 before Compline. How good of a job do we as 21st Century Christians do with any of that? Anger? Adultery? Retaliation? Love of Enemies? Wow. Not too good. It’s all “in your face”.
“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied”
I want to hunger and thirst for righteousness this week.
God protect my family this night.
Hit the library first – not a lot of books – I found one – Engaging the world with Merton, On Retreat in Tom’s Hermitage by M. Basil Pennington. I’ve seen this book before but never bought it.
His goal for the retreat is:
“Some renewing experience of God and Contemplative Time. Some clarity on my vocational question”
Sounds a LOT like the first things I thought about when I came here, or first decided to do this.
Went to Vespers at 5:30, Compline at 7:30. Very interesting. Don’t know if I’ll make Vigils at 3:30AM. Certainly 7AM. I think as Pennington did in his retreat, I’ll build mine around the service times as well.
Was reading Matthew 5 before Compline. How good of a job do we as 21st Century Christians do with any of that? Anger? Adultery? Retaliation? Love of Enemies? Wow. Not too good. It’s all “in your face”.
“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied”
I want to hunger and thirst for righteousness this week.
God protect my family this night.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Economies and James
For the last month or so, the weekly Mass readings have focused on the book of James.
For me, this has been an especially gut wrenching time in the word - extremely humbling.
From the week of 6 September 2009 (James 2:1-5):
"My brothers and sisters, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in,and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here, please, ”while you say to the poor one, “Stand there, ” or “Sit at my feet, ”have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs?"
From the week of 13 September 2009 (James 2:14-18)
"If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day,and one of you says to them,“Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well, ”but you do not give them the necessities of the body,what good is it? So also faith of itself,if it does not have works, is dead."
And, finally tonight, one of the most hard hitting pieces of scripture I think I've ever heard proclaimed (James 5:1-6):
"Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten,your gold and silver have corroded,and that corrosion will be a testimony against you;it will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying aloud;and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one; he offers you no resistance."
To me, this last passage sounds a LOT like a description of a lot of people who worked on Wall Street and other places and made a lot of money (and then lost it all) off of innocent investors with risky behavior.
What's interesting to me is that people who are in the habit of interpreting scripture literally and cherry picking verses never seem to talk much about these types of passages. That is because it seems to me to be a scathing indictment of how churches treat people, how individual Christians treat people, and the last passage seems to be a scathing indictment of the type of "Capitalism" that we saw from Wall Street.
A lot of Christians have bought wholly into big ruthless Capitalism and rapacious consumer consumption. They can see no other way to do business, and if you talk badly about it you are known as being "anti-Capitalism".
They seem to believe that it is somehow an entitlement of living in this country. A lot of them even believe that it is a "Blessing of God" for our exceptionalism.
As I've been seeing this (and other passages of scripture that just seem to jump out at me) over the past month, I wonder if we're doing this right, or if we have the right attitude?
Are we, as the body of Christ doing enough? I know that there are a lot of churches and individual Christians who do a lot of good work on behalf of the poor. That should always be celebrated.
But, this seems to be talking more about an attitudinal thing, at least to me it does. It seems to be talking about integrating this attitude into your WHOLE LIFE.
I've talked before about how there is not different "boxes" for the economy - it's all one economy that ties together. I think the same can be said for our life in our faith - it's all one life. There is no "church box" or "work box" or "home box" or "politics box" - it should all be in the same box.
I know that I really don't have any place to talk about this, and the fact of the matter is that I'm no better at this than any of my fellow Christians, so I'm not smugly talking about it - but it has been hitting me very hard as we've been somewhat coldly talking about who is going to get health care, and who is not. I know Church going Christians who say, "well, I pay for my health care, why should I have to worry about anyone else's health care"?
It might just be my imagination, but James seems to have something to say about making distinctions like that.
For me, this has been an especially gut wrenching time in the word - extremely humbling.
From the week of 6 September 2009 (James 2:1-5):
"My brothers and sisters, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in,and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here, please, ”while you say to the poor one, “Stand there, ” or “Sit at my feet, ”have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs?"
From the week of 13 September 2009 (James 2:14-18)
"If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day,and one of you says to them,“Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well, ”but you do not give them the necessities of the body,what good is it? So also faith of itself,if it does not have works, is dead."
And, finally tonight, one of the most hard hitting pieces of scripture I think I've ever heard proclaimed (James 5:1-6):
"Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten,your gold and silver have corroded,and that corrosion will be a testimony against you;it will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying aloud;and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one; he offers you no resistance."
To me, this last passage sounds a LOT like a description of a lot of people who worked on Wall Street and other places and made a lot of money (and then lost it all) off of innocent investors with risky behavior.
What's interesting to me is that people who are in the habit of interpreting scripture literally and cherry picking verses never seem to talk much about these types of passages. That is because it seems to me to be a scathing indictment of how churches treat people, how individual Christians treat people, and the last passage seems to be a scathing indictment of the type of "Capitalism" that we saw from Wall Street.
A lot of Christians have bought wholly into big ruthless Capitalism and rapacious consumer consumption. They can see no other way to do business, and if you talk badly about it you are known as being "anti-Capitalism".
They seem to believe that it is somehow an entitlement of living in this country. A lot of them even believe that it is a "Blessing of God" for our exceptionalism.
As I've been seeing this (and other passages of scripture that just seem to jump out at me) over the past month, I wonder if we're doing this right, or if we have the right attitude?
Are we, as the body of Christ doing enough? I know that there are a lot of churches and individual Christians who do a lot of good work on behalf of the poor. That should always be celebrated.
But, this seems to be talking more about an attitudinal thing, at least to me it does. It seems to be talking about integrating this attitude into your WHOLE LIFE.
I've talked before about how there is not different "boxes" for the economy - it's all one economy that ties together. I think the same can be said for our life in our faith - it's all one life. There is no "church box" or "work box" or "home box" or "politics box" - it should all be in the same box.
I know that I really don't have any place to talk about this, and the fact of the matter is that I'm no better at this than any of my fellow Christians, so I'm not smugly talking about it - but it has been hitting me very hard as we've been somewhat coldly talking about who is going to get health care, and who is not. I know Church going Christians who say, "well, I pay for my health care, why should I have to worry about anyone else's health care"?
It might just be my imagination, but James seems to have something to say about making distinctions like that.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Just a thought about the Town Halls
Went to mass tonight.
This was included in one of the readings (Ephesians 4:30 - 5:2):
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling
must be removed from you, along with all malice.
And be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.
I immediately thought of the Town Hall meetings, and the yelling and the screaming. The intimidation. Even the veiled (and sometimes not so veiled) threats of violence.
Of course they will tell you that they are just "exercising their constitutional rights." They certainly don't have any consideration for the constitutional rights of those who don't hold their positions, and their only reason for being there is to disrupt the meeting. That upsets me quite a bit, but I understand, and have for some time that civil political discourse in this country has become a pathetic joke.
Hearing Saint Paul's words in Ephesians, I'm thinking of something not on a political level.
Now, if you polled most of those people doing the yelling and screaming - are you a Christian?, or do you attend a Christian church? what do you think the answer would be?
My guess is that most of the attendees are "professing" Christians. After all, isn't the mantra "We are a Christian Nation"?
So how can they reconcile their ugly, screeching behavior at a Town Hall Meeting with Saint Paul's writing here? It says ALL bitterness, ALL fury, ALL anger, ALL shouting, etc.
I'm one of those who has the crazy notion that, to the best of your ability and with God's help, this should be part of how you live your life and deal with others 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
It seems to me that if you go there with the INTENTION of doing this, that makes it all the worse.
It doesn't say to remove those things only when you feel like it, or when you are doing something like this that has to do with "non-church" stuff. It says to remove ALL.
If you are one who professes themselves to be a Christian, your WHOLE life should indicate it.
Shouldn't it?
This was included in one of the readings (Ephesians 4:30 - 5:2):
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling
must be removed from you, along with all malice.
And be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.
I immediately thought of the Town Hall meetings, and the yelling and the screaming. The intimidation. Even the veiled (and sometimes not so veiled) threats of violence.
Of course they will tell you that they are just "exercising their constitutional rights." They certainly don't have any consideration for the constitutional rights of those who don't hold their positions, and their only reason for being there is to disrupt the meeting. That upsets me quite a bit, but I understand, and have for some time that civil political discourse in this country has become a pathetic joke.
Hearing Saint Paul's words in Ephesians, I'm thinking of something not on a political level.
Now, if you polled most of those people doing the yelling and screaming - are you a Christian?, or do you attend a Christian church? what do you think the answer would be?
My guess is that most of the attendees are "professing" Christians. After all, isn't the mantra "We are a Christian Nation"?
So how can they reconcile their ugly, screeching behavior at a Town Hall Meeting with Saint Paul's writing here? It says ALL bitterness, ALL fury, ALL anger, ALL shouting, etc.
I'm one of those who has the crazy notion that, to the best of your ability and with God's help, this should be part of how you live your life and deal with others 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
It seems to me that if you go there with the INTENTION of doing this, that makes it all the worse.
It doesn't say to remove those things only when you feel like it, or when you are doing something like this that has to do with "non-church" stuff. It says to remove ALL.
If you are one who professes themselves to be a Christian, your WHOLE life should indicate it.
Shouldn't it?
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Peace in the Post Christian Era
A few years ago, I bought this book (Peace in the Post Christian Era by Thomas Merton) at a used book sale. I think I got it for a buck. I have only recently gotten around to reading it.
The first several pages of the book explain how the book came to be. It was censored by his order (the Trappists), but, in lieu of "publishing" it, he sent mimeographed copies to a lot of his friends, and other influential people.
The book is about the Christian response to Nuclear War. Written in 1962, there would have been a real, palpable fear of nuclear war, and the real possibility that nuclear war might actually happen, and happen soon (Merton alludes several times in the book to the war happening possibly within 5 years)
We can look back on it now as more of an academic, historical exercise, and not have to worry as much about the stark terror of a nuclear war that could literally wipe out every man, woman and child on earth.
That is not to say that there are still not nuclear dangers, and dangers of other kinds in our world.
One interesting comment on the back of the book comes from Father John Dear:
"Substitute war on terrorism: for "war on communism," and his insights continue to challenge our culture of war and ourselves"
What I wanted to do was put some of the comments from the book, without comment from me (I invite those who read this to take these quotes and possibly apply them to recent events - what if anything do they say to YOU? What if anything do they mean to YOU?). Every Christian has to decide for themselves whether these actually still apply to the United States of America and her condition in 2009:
"Christians therefore have the obligation to treat every other man as Christ himself, respecting his neighbor's life as if it were the life of Christ, his rights as if they were the rights of Christ. Even if the other shows himself to be unjust, wicked and odious to us, we cannot take upon ourselves a final and definitive judgment in his case. We still have an obligation to be patient, and tho seek his higher spiritual interests"
The Christian as Peacemaker (Chapter 4)
"The exceptional violence is now the norm of our thinking, while charity has become exotic"
The Legacy of Machiavelli (Chapter 6)
"Christianity, in a word, is everywhere yielding to the hegemony of naked power"
Religious Problems of the Cold War (Chapter 8)
"If we adopt a policy of hatred, of liquidation of those who oppose us, of unrestrained use of total war, of a spirit of fear and panic, of exaggerated propaganda, of unconditional surrender, of pure nationalism, we have already been overcome by the evil"
Working for Peace (Chapter 10)
"Not only non-Christians but even Christians themselves tend to dismiss the Gospel ethic on non-violence and love as "sentimental". As a matter of fact, the mere suggestion that Christ counseled nonviolent resistance to evil is enough to invite scathing ridicule."
Beyond East and West (Chapter 11)
"It must be admitted therefore that if the gospel of peace is no longer convincing on the lips of Christians, it may well be because they have ceased to give a living example of peace, unity and love."
Christian Perspectives in World Crisis (Chapter 15)
"But the fact remains that a warring and warlike Christendom has never been able to preach the Gospel of charity and peace with full conviction, or full success."
Christian Perspectives in World Crisis (Chapter 15)
"We have to become aware of the poisonous effect of the mass media that keep violence, cruelty and sadism constantly present to the minds of unformed and irresponsible people"
The Christian Choice (Chapter 17)
That's probably enough for one night. There are more great quotes in the book I want to share, some of them quite lengthy. You can either get the book, or check back in a few days. I might put some more quotes on here, but I'm tired of typing now.
The first several pages of the book explain how the book came to be. It was censored by his order (the Trappists), but, in lieu of "publishing" it, he sent mimeographed copies to a lot of his friends, and other influential people.
The book is about the Christian response to Nuclear War. Written in 1962, there would have been a real, palpable fear of nuclear war, and the real possibility that nuclear war might actually happen, and happen soon (Merton alludes several times in the book to the war happening possibly within 5 years)
We can look back on it now as more of an academic, historical exercise, and not have to worry as much about the stark terror of a nuclear war that could literally wipe out every man, woman and child on earth.
That is not to say that there are still not nuclear dangers, and dangers of other kinds in our world.
One interesting comment on the back of the book comes from Father John Dear:
"Substitute war on terrorism: for "war on communism," and his insights continue to challenge our culture of war and ourselves"
What I wanted to do was put some of the comments from the book, without comment from me (I invite those who read this to take these quotes and possibly apply them to recent events - what if anything do they say to YOU? What if anything do they mean to YOU?). Every Christian has to decide for themselves whether these actually still apply to the United States of America and her condition in 2009:
"Christians therefore have the obligation to treat every other man as Christ himself, respecting his neighbor's life as if it were the life of Christ, his rights as if they were the rights of Christ. Even if the other shows himself to be unjust, wicked and odious to us, we cannot take upon ourselves a final and definitive judgment in his case. We still have an obligation to be patient, and tho seek his higher spiritual interests"
The Christian as Peacemaker (Chapter 4)
"The exceptional violence is now the norm of our thinking, while charity has become exotic"
The Legacy of Machiavelli (Chapter 6)
"Christianity, in a word, is everywhere yielding to the hegemony of naked power"
Religious Problems of the Cold War (Chapter 8)
"If we adopt a policy of hatred, of liquidation of those who oppose us, of unrestrained use of total war, of a spirit of fear and panic, of exaggerated propaganda, of unconditional surrender, of pure nationalism, we have already been overcome by the evil"
Working for Peace (Chapter 10)
"Not only non-Christians but even Christians themselves tend to dismiss the Gospel ethic on non-violence and love as "sentimental". As a matter of fact, the mere suggestion that Christ counseled nonviolent resistance to evil is enough to invite scathing ridicule."
Beyond East and West (Chapter 11)
"It must be admitted therefore that if the gospel of peace is no longer convincing on the lips of Christians, it may well be because they have ceased to give a living example of peace, unity and love."
Christian Perspectives in World Crisis (Chapter 15)
"But the fact remains that a warring and warlike Christendom has never been able to preach the Gospel of charity and peace with full conviction, or full success."
Christian Perspectives in World Crisis (Chapter 15)
"We have to become aware of the poisonous effect of the mass media that keep violence, cruelty and sadism constantly present to the minds of unformed and irresponsible people"
The Christian Choice (Chapter 17)
That's probably enough for one night. There are more great quotes in the book I want to share, some of them quite lengthy. You can either get the book, or check back in a few days. I might put some more quotes on here, but I'm tired of typing now.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
A LOT of killing
Over 50 people, are now dead in a matter of a few days, in some spectacularly gruesome mass killings at the hands of several different gunmen.
This does not count the murders that happen in every city, on every day of the week, nor does it count those who are deciding to take their own lives on a daily basis.
This article from the Washington Post is titled Some Link Economy with Spate of Killings:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/07/AR2009040703979.html
From the article:
"The factor underlying the violence, some experts think, is the dismal state of the nation's economy. Criminologists theorize that the epidemic of layoffs, the meltdown of storied American corporations and the uncertainty of recovery have stoked fear, anxiety and desperation across society and unnerved its most vulnerable and dangerous."
I absolutely do believe that economic conditions could be one causative factor of the recent mass killings, but I just can't bring myself to believe that they are THE causative factor.
When trying to correlate the killing to the economic situation, you have to wonder, did the same kind of thing happen in the Great Depression when 25% of the population was unemployed (as compared to 8.5 or 9% now), and many other dismal statistics towered over the current statistics?
I did not do any in depth digging, but a general check of Depression crime statistics reveals that the crime rate was relatively low in the depression, among all socioeconomic levels, and among all ethnic groups.
It should be said up front that in analyzing these violent acts and their possible causes that I do not ever want to forget the victims, and the pain and suffering that has been visited randomly on their families.
So, what does it all mean?
It means that for whatever reason, in this day and age, people are deciding to kill, and sometimes kill spectacularly. Buy WHY? What is the difference now, as compared to then?
In what I'm about to say, I am not idealizing that time, or "the olden days". I am not one to pine for the good old days, but I do believe there are some fundamental differences now as opposed to then, and some of the changes haven't generally been for the better.
For instance, I believe that generally, families are not as tightly knit as they once were. Then, you would not want to shame your family, or give your family a bad name. Your family also, for the most part would take care of you.
I also believe that for a lot of people, they do not have a sense of place, or a sense of community. Often the themes in these types of shootings are those of a loner, or someone who was "picked on" or made an outcast by the people he lived around. Even those who don't intend to ever go on a rampage may feel isolated, or lonely. As a society, we have isolated ourselves. A lot of people don't "do" church anymore, and a lot of people aren't involved with their communities, nor do they know their neighbors.
I think Mother Teresa had it right when she said "The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved."
I certainly think the 24/7 news media, with some of it being very specific opinion related content contributes to a climate of fear, anxiety and agitation. Adding to this, is a general glorification of violence, and saturation of violence which desensitizes us from violence towards other people.
Lastly, the guns aren't responsible for the killing, but they certainly enable a quicker piling up of the bodies. Easy, unlimited access to powerful guns and lethal ammunition certainly does not help the situation.
It was reported that the Binghamton New York shooter fired 98 shots in a minute. That is an incredible amount of firepower for an ordinary citizen to have.
So, what is the answer? I must confess that I really don't know. Certainly, there will be knee jerk reactions - stiffer gun laws will be debated, etc.
I do not think it will change or get any better though, even as the economy improves. I seem to recall that fairly regular mass killings happen in good economic times and bad.
I think it's us. If it didn't happen in any great frequency before, that should tell us something shouldn't it? Or, at least give us something to think about?
In the final analysis, you can't make people go to church, or get involved in community. You can't make family members who are cold and unloving to one another love one another. You can certainly encourage, but you can't make people turn off the 24/7 media that divides and polarizes us as a people.
I think that is the most frustrating part. We are accustomed to thinking that we can snap our fingers and make the problem go away (or throw money at it). But, I don't think this problem will be solved in that way.
And, then, a week from now, or two weeks from now, or tomorrow another one of these killings happen, and we are left to try to again figure it out with fresh feelings of pain and sorrow.
I wish I had some pithy words to close it out. Or some kind of deep, meaningful thing to say that could make it all better.
I don't have that. Every time I think of it all, I just get weary. I even think, what is the point of even writing this right now?
Again, I defer to Mother Teresa.
This is the mantra we should think about when thinking about our neighbors and how we can help each other out. Or helping or identifying that kid who might be in trouble and headed down this road. Or trying to instill a feeling of hope among our friends and neighbors:
"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."
This does not count the murders that happen in every city, on every day of the week, nor does it count those who are deciding to take their own lives on a daily basis.
This article from the Washington Post is titled Some Link Economy with Spate of Killings:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/07/AR2009040703979.html
From the article:
"The factor underlying the violence, some experts think, is the dismal state of the nation's economy. Criminologists theorize that the epidemic of layoffs, the meltdown of storied American corporations and the uncertainty of recovery have stoked fear, anxiety and desperation across society and unnerved its most vulnerable and dangerous."
I absolutely do believe that economic conditions could be one causative factor of the recent mass killings, but I just can't bring myself to believe that they are THE causative factor.
When trying to correlate the killing to the economic situation, you have to wonder, did the same kind of thing happen in the Great Depression when 25% of the population was unemployed (as compared to 8.5 or 9% now), and many other dismal statistics towered over the current statistics?
I did not do any in depth digging, but a general check of Depression crime statistics reveals that the crime rate was relatively low in the depression, among all socioeconomic levels, and among all ethnic groups.
It should be said up front that in analyzing these violent acts and their possible causes that I do not ever want to forget the victims, and the pain and suffering that has been visited randomly on their families.
So, what does it all mean?
It means that for whatever reason, in this day and age, people are deciding to kill, and sometimes kill spectacularly. Buy WHY? What is the difference now, as compared to then?
In what I'm about to say, I am not idealizing that time, or "the olden days". I am not one to pine for the good old days, but I do believe there are some fundamental differences now as opposed to then, and some of the changes haven't generally been for the better.
For instance, I believe that generally, families are not as tightly knit as they once were. Then, you would not want to shame your family, or give your family a bad name. Your family also, for the most part would take care of you.
I also believe that for a lot of people, they do not have a sense of place, or a sense of community. Often the themes in these types of shootings are those of a loner, or someone who was "picked on" or made an outcast by the people he lived around. Even those who don't intend to ever go on a rampage may feel isolated, or lonely. As a society, we have isolated ourselves. A lot of people don't "do" church anymore, and a lot of people aren't involved with their communities, nor do they know their neighbors.
I think Mother Teresa had it right when she said "The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved."
I certainly think the 24/7 news media, with some of it being very specific opinion related content contributes to a climate of fear, anxiety and agitation. Adding to this, is a general glorification of violence, and saturation of violence which desensitizes us from violence towards other people.
Lastly, the guns aren't responsible for the killing, but they certainly enable a quicker piling up of the bodies. Easy, unlimited access to powerful guns and lethal ammunition certainly does not help the situation.
It was reported that the Binghamton New York shooter fired 98 shots in a minute. That is an incredible amount of firepower for an ordinary citizen to have.
So, what is the answer? I must confess that I really don't know. Certainly, there will be knee jerk reactions - stiffer gun laws will be debated, etc.
I do not think it will change or get any better though, even as the economy improves. I seem to recall that fairly regular mass killings happen in good economic times and bad.
I think it's us. If it didn't happen in any great frequency before, that should tell us something shouldn't it? Or, at least give us something to think about?
In the final analysis, you can't make people go to church, or get involved in community. You can't make family members who are cold and unloving to one another love one another. You can certainly encourage, but you can't make people turn off the 24/7 media that divides and polarizes us as a people.
I think that is the most frustrating part. We are accustomed to thinking that we can snap our fingers and make the problem go away (or throw money at it). But, I don't think this problem will be solved in that way.
And, then, a week from now, or two weeks from now, or tomorrow another one of these killings happen, and we are left to try to again figure it out with fresh feelings of pain and sorrow.
I wish I had some pithy words to close it out. Or some kind of deep, meaningful thing to say that could make it all better.
I don't have that. Every time I think of it all, I just get weary. I even think, what is the point of even writing this right now?
Again, I defer to Mother Teresa.
This is the mantra we should think about when thinking about our neighbors and how we can help each other out. Or helping or identifying that kid who might be in trouble and headed down this road. Or trying to instill a feeling of hope among our friends and neighbors:
"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."
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