It seems that each week passes by polluted with violent tragedies. On top of this week's 67th anniversary of the Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945) nuclear bombings by the United States, violent unrest is happening abroad in Syria and Egypt is reporting to have bombed militant cells within its own borders. And within the United States, a man shot and killed several worshipers in a Wisconsin Sikh temple earlier this week, last month's fatal shooting at a movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado remains fresh in our minds, and the courts are making major decisions in the trial of a shooting that occurred at a political meet and greet last year in Arizona. And these are just a few of the events that we are made aware of. Drug and sex trafficking occurs all across the globe along with domestic abuse, cyber bullying, poverty, road rage, gang violence, environmental destruction, etc. The world is full of victims. Sadly, it can be a challenge to not become sensitized to the suffering of others. It's easier to just ask ourselves, "Why is the world so crazy?"
In response to such heartbreaking events, I suggest that it is probably most helpful to begin confronting the sin of violence and oppression through prayer. To pause and reflect on the death and suffering that humans are capable of and willing to inflict on each other inhibits us from hardening our hearts that can occur with a high volume of events or when we do not know the victims personally. By calling out these tragedies we do not let the sin of violence and hatred go unnoticed, and we can begin our transformation into a people, a Church, unwilling to further perpetuate a vicious cycle of violence and retaliation.
I believe Jesus had a similar response when he knew the time was nearing for him to undergo violence and death. His prayer in Luke 22:42 was,
“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” With the weight of the impending violence he was about to endure, he found a place for prayer in a secluded garden. His prayer expressed great distress over the fact that God's will for the faithful is to confront the violence of the world without resorting to violence or retaliation. In fact, when one of his disciples cut off the ear of one of his arrestors shortly after his time of prayer, he rebuked the disciple and healed the man. I believe that the time spent in prayer in that garden was necessary to prepare Jesus for staying on course with God's will, and it gave Jesus the strength to stand up to the ruling authorities when he bore the cross.
As we know, the cross was not the end of Christ's story. God's power overcame the violent acts of Christ's crucifiers and he was resurrected. The will of God was affirmed in that resurrection - a will for us that is shaped by healing and redemption, not violence. The power of resurrection lies within God, but in response to the tragedies of the world Christians can witness to God's power of resurrection through prayer and by offering solidarity and comfort to the victims of violence and hatred. I do not have solutions for those confronted with violence. I can only pray that God's love, grace, and peace may be revealed in the response of believers to the suffering of the world.
