Dear One,
This week will be different. This week I’m not so much giving you words, as I am asking for yours. Please. They’re needed.
The goodbye’s have begun. Nineteen little bodies, two teachers, and one grief-stricken husband are being laid to rest in TX. They join others from NY and CA and too many places to count. The goodbye’s have begun while the guns still fire. Twenty – yes, 20! – mass shootings in our country since Uvalde.
There are no words, friend.
Not enough words.
Not sufficient words.
Not large enough words to hold the grief, the anger, the outrage.
No words to lay in the laps of those who lost
their loved ones
their innocence
their sense of safety
their childhood
their futures
their lives.
No words to the weary. Haven’t we given them enough words already?
Empty words.
Ineffective words.
No, I will not lay those in their laps.
But I will find words. I must. And, on behalf of the bereaved I will send them. Lay them in the laps of our lawmakers.
Help us!
Do something!
Act! Govern! Unite! Defend!
I don’t consider myself a political person. I’m a pacifist. A Mennonite. The quiet in the land. I’ve not once contacted a Senator. But that ends today. Shame on me if I send empty words to those who are weeping but withhold my words from those wielding the power.
Every week I try to send words to you that bring hope, healing, or help. But friend, “Life-words” are not always comforting ones. Sometimes the words that bring life are words of rebuke, words of rebuttal, words begging repentance, and these are what I’ll find today.
Will you join me? It matters precious little if you are republican or democrat, if you own a gun or have beaten it into plowshares already. Enough is enough. And the weary and the weeping await our words. Not to them, but to those who wield, quite literally, the power of life and death.
If you are from another country, please pray for us, and thank you.
If you are willing, on behalf of the weeping, to send your words to the ones who wield, I’d be ever so grateful to have you join me. Like I said, I’m new at this. I’m taking my guidance from my dear and trusted friend Christianne Squires. She has created step by step guides for both calling and writing our senators and you can find them here.
Relent & Repent!: Our Little Life Words of the week.
DEEPER DIVE
Ponder:
- In what ways are you willing and able to make a difference?
Practice:
- Contact your Senators. For help, click on the link I provided above. Send your words to those who wield.
Play:
- Our song of the week is: Thoughts and Prayers by CommonHymnal😭😭.
Pray:
- Forgive us, O God, and heal our land.