Massacres, Foreign and Domestic

You are right, you're not alone. I remember sitting at my desk at work, and I read the news. It hit me, and I said a small prayer, but then I went and got my lunch and told someone about it. As if it were just another "thing" that happened.

I am torn, as you've eluded to, between my jaded response to what happens in this world, and not wanting to be crippled by the overwhelming despair of it all. Still, my heart should cry out to God. Cry out for Him to step in and do something. I don't know what that would entail, but I should at least cry out all the same.

And you are right. Most of the time, we only care when it's Americans. It took my Dutch wife to finally open my eyes to that particular sin.

I was in the waiting room of my doctor's office when I heard about the shootings. I was with my daughter who is six and was very sick. The room was full of people coughing and I was thinking about how I was probably going to get sick from sitting in that room.

We waited for forty-five minutes with the ceiling bolted TV blaring the words death toll and shots fired. At the same moment I understood what had happened, I wished for the remote. I wanted to change the channel so my poor, sick, protected, white, middle-class baby would not have to hear those words repeated. Furthermore; to plunge the depths of my own heart, so that I would not have to explain what it all meant.

In the midst of a struggle to answer God's simple missional call on my life, I am sharply aware of the global scope of suffering. It is passion and aching inside of me. Yet, I respond with apathy and entitlement when faced with this reality. God have mercy on me.

God save us all.

I was sitting at my desk at work, listening to some Neko Case & intentionally surfed to the BBC website for the latest news. It was there that I read what was happening and sat at my desk in stunned shock. I had no clue how to process that information, except to pray for those students, their families, and for the shooter & his family.

However, I still have no clue how to process that information. I have no clue how to process the fact that there were 3 tremendous bombings throughout Iraq last week. I sit here in my relative safety in Houston, TX & wonder what (if anything) I can do. If I want to make this world a better place, where events like those at Va Tech and in Iraq never happen again, what am I, what are WE to do?

God help us all....

The discussion here is interesting as it brings up a lot of the same things I've been feeling this week. The VA Tech news affected me a lot more than most people - I lived there for 11 years, my two brothers still live there, and I keep up with my church family through e-mails and such. It made me mad that most people barely paused, and resumed daily activities with little more than a few thoughts about the victims and the tragedy. I wanted (and still want) people to pray for the victims and the churches reaching out. I still want people to care. Yet I myself, as so many others, barely pause to pray for Iraq, Darfur, and countless other places where tragedy occurs daily.

So I guess the message is to pray. Pray for our fellow Christians around the world who are dealing with sorrow and unspeakable tragedy on a daily basis. Pray for churches to have strength and courage and to rise up and reach out. Pray that God will do incredible things all over the world even in the midst of tragedy, just as he has done at VA Tech the last week.

The stories of what God is doing in Blacksburg are just incredible. But please pray for the churches there to have continued strength, as many have been available around the clock for a week straight. Pray for rest and peace for the pastors and EMT workers and students who witnessed the shootings. Simple as it may sound, that's the answer. Prayer.

The shootings at VT angered me. I remember spending the whole evening ticked off that people were so messed up; but it took another encounter for me to realize that for as much as I pretend to care, I don't.

I ride the bus into school every day, and recently encountered a lonely old lady. She asked what I had done for Easter, what my family was like, and what I was doing at the bus stop. She had spent Easter in Applebeas: all alone with no family or friends. After climbing on the bus I realized that not only do I not care about the suffering of people in VT or Africa; I do not care about the suffering of the people in my own neighborhood. If I really cared I would be looking for ways to help stop the suffering in Philadlephia, in the U.S. and in all the world.

God save us from our contented lethargy.

Jordan,

Thank you for sharing your confession with us. You echoed my own feelings, and apparently the feelings of many others.

I've been thinking today about your last question: "If we treated every human life with the respect it deserves, would we ever get anything done?" My first response was no. Then, after thinking about it longer, I decided we'd actually get MORE done. My third (though probably not final) response is that to treat every human life with the respect is both the means and the end. It is the greatest work of all; everything else we do emanates from it.

And now to some questions of my own. If we feel apathetic and disconnected, what is the reason? What is the root of our alienation? What about our lives, our culture, encourages and sustains alienation?

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts.

The root of my alienation and creeping apathy? The fact that, no matter how optimistic I can be about my close friends and the work we are doing & are planning to do, I still feel like it's not enough. I still feel like we're fighting an uphill battle against our base human nature to take care of ourselves 1st and others a distant 492nd. And then there are the days when there's the merest glimmer of sunlight amidst the darkness. Yet the second I begin to rejoice, something like the shooting Va Tech happens, and it all goes black again.

I war with my apathy & the apathy of others, all while wondering if I'm doing a damn bit of good for the world around me. I guess what I'm saying is that my actions speak louder than my words. I need to do more than I'm doing already, both internally & externally.

And now I'm just rambling. All apologies....

I lay down my self-addiction again and again, only to pick it up when the need for entertainment arises. I collaborate, love and commune with the least of these in Jesus name. I have a life-threatening illness, but am not moved to anger. I am joyful. I can identify with suffering in a very real everyday kind of way. Those who know me say my brand of passion is contagious.

My point is not self promotion. It is paradox. I spend my days trying to live Jesus. To some, I make a difference. To the geographic suffering world, I do not exist. I tune out and become apathetic.
Overwhelmed with the scope of suffering, I often choose distraction. It is out of self-addiction that I make this choice. It is easier.

Our culture screams entertain me, don't inconvenience me, give me better, bigger, faster, newer. We are a pod culture. We can do it all on our own. This is the disconnect. Why reach out? Everything is so comfortable.

Allow me to reference a point of comfort from Matthew 10 in The Message. "This is a large work I've called you into, but don't be overwhelmed by it. It's best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won't lose out on a thing." I regain my focus and lay it all down again to be a part of this beautiful cycle of humanity.

Jesus always says the best stuff.

Jordan,
I really appreciate this article. I've had the same thoughts recently, especially upon seeing so many American flags flying at half mast. I actually asked my dad the other day to help me understand who decides what a tragedy is and then who responds by lowering the stars and stripes half way down the flagpole. Is it a PR or HR thing?
example:
A few years ago a close friend of mine lost her father to cancer. I remember leaving the hospital so struck with grief that me and those with me could hardly manage to pull in breath. All I could think was how tragic this was for her family and our community. This was an amazingly gracious and loving man, who made an impact on thousands of lives. So we untied the knot in the rope of the flag and lowered it to a spot designated for grief. We were grieving, a whole community of people lost a father, a husband, a best friend, and mentor. It seemed an appropriate measure, but we got yelled at and the flag was promptly raised after we drove off.

So again I ask, who gets to lower the flag? What is a tragedy? How many people have to suffer to make a good headline, or does the one person lost just have to be important enough?

I must say here that what happened at VT was, and remains a tragic happening. It is heartbreaking. The senseless loss of life is a hard reality to swallow. I admit, I cried watching CNN and still tear up when I hear stories like the ones you sited. But I also cried for a few days when I lost my friend. I still cry sometimes with my dear friend who lost her father. And I still think they should have left the flag at half mast.
In leu of your question, I have a suggestion. Perhaps until Death finally loses his grasp on all of this world, our flags should never reach the top of the mast. Maybe the loss of my friend wasn't a national tragedy, but maybe it was too. My heart still aches for him, as it aches for the families affected at VT, and the 16,500 children around the world under the age of five who died yesterday, and each day from starvation. If I had a flag, it would stay half way up the pole until tragedy stops ripping apart humanity.
We can, and I think should weep at death. It should frustrate and annoy us as must as Jesus was at Lazarus' death. And that frustration should have us fight and act to restore life. Lets do something about it. We see death and heartache so much that it's lost much of its bite. Thats why so many of us could simply turn the channel.
And it's not okay. I'm with you Jordan that every single death is a tragedy. Jesus wept for his friend and I'll bet if there were a flag there, he'd have lowered it too. Right before bringing him back to life.

As I read through these comments I want to offer solutions because I think I know what do. Solutions like, go talk to a homeless or elderly or lonely person, listen to a friend without interjecting or judging, give something away that really has a hold on you. These are the answers - the small, cup of water answers - but they often feel too small and thus, not meaningful. We want big, sweeping programs that help thousands if not millions, we want it now, and we want the credit. At least, I do.

But I have a better answer to these questions that I rarely live out. I have Jesus,in me, breathing life and compassion and hope. We all do. And we can bring those things to every interaction because of Him alone.

When I was in Calcutta I was literally surrounded by people in desperate need - millions of them without home, food, hope. I felt completely unable to do anything, and here I was in one of the most desperate places in the third world. Wasn't this, of all places, where I would do something truly good for suffering humanity?

And I didn't really get that it is itty bitty seemingly insignificant things that matter. I was at a home for infirm women (mentally ill, handicapped, or elderly). My task was to cut and paint toenails. And as I sat with those women and cared for them, touched their dirty feet and cut their nasty toenails, they smiled at me, laughed at me, surrounded me, and I was filled with so much joy. I couldn't have possibly understood that that day would be one of the most significant of my time there.

If we pay attention to the world (which we all do, we all have internalized it to varying degrees) we think that stopping to pick up a piece of trash or smile at someone on the sidewalk means nothing, and can do nothing for the chaos that is the world. But I think it is the only thing that will save us, because we have to start there. We have to believe that we can make a difference in at least one person's day, if not their life.

Now I am rambling. And I don't want to downplay the importance of recognizing how our choices, lethargy, and oblivioisness - because we are some the most powerful people on the planet - affect the entire world. But we must start somewhere. And Jesus tells us to let him care for the world, through us, one cup of water, or one toenail at a time.

Mother Teresa, echoing Jesus, said it best: "We cannot do great things, just small things with great love."

It is telling, the reactions we have to tragedies. I am embarrassed at times that I am not hurt more by the things we do to each other, I wonder how can I hear of these things and be relatively unmoved? At least unmoved to the point of inactivity, I conjour up a small prayer in a moment of disbelief. I do no more than that on a practical level. I comment to others that there is no real explanation for the why, other than the existence of evil.
I try and make it philosophical, then I can distance myself from responsibility. I guess I am resigned to the idea that these things will continue around the world and that my prayers dont make much of a difference. I am feeling a whole lot worse as I write this and I am thinking of challenging myself and anyone else who reads this and feels so far away from events to lift your prayers to heaven for those affected by evil in the world. I cant stop evil but I can help bind the wound even if only from a distance. I am going to pray that I care more than I do now and that I dont stop caring.
Thank you Kristi for the reminder that Jesus always says the best stuff.
Thank all of you who are fighting against apathy for the encouragement to joyfully talk to my Dad about things that I can do in His world to be the hands and feet of His Son.

Yeah.

When I first heard about the shootings, I (too) was in a doctor's office waiting room, too far away from the TV to get the details. And I decided I would wait until I got home to get on CNN.com and get the full story rather than walk over to the TV. So this was me: "Great. Another shooting. Well, even though people are dying, I really can't be arked to care right now because I'm very busy thinking about my stomach virus."

Even a week and a half later, the news hasn't gotten past my skin. I just can't mourn about it for some reason.

BUT, I have to say, these posts have been some of the most encouraging reading I've seen in a while. It really isn't hard at all, is it, to find someone who needs someone to mourn with them? Thank you all for the reminder that the mourning-with really does make a difference.

I was in a car, driving to work (I had a bad bicycle accident in the winter, fractured two bones in my wrist and caused some tendon issues, otherwise I would be pedaling.. Yes, I could take public transit but..) listening to NPR when the shooting was announced, I immediately felt shock.. increased heart rate, the beginnings of panic, and deep stomach emotional hurt.

I work in an alternative middle school for behaviorally challenged students. Having reached work almost late, sitting in a parked car staring at my radio, I had to commit to get out and go to work with incomplete details. My co-workers had not yet heard the news, so I broke the story (as much as I knew) to individuals, away from students, in a rather callous and matter of fact way. I even acknowledged that an overt display of emotions would be appropriate at the reception of such news, but in an emotionless manner.. my co-workers receiving the horrible news also acknowledged how emotions would be appropriate, without being emotional. Rather we used statements like 'that sucks,' or 'that's crazy' as if using the harshest of expletives in all seriousness.

Our work context and our jaded culture insulated us, as we insulated the students.

In the next few days our students would make jokes about the event, making comments about how it would be awesome to have such freedom and power, to have such voice, to be heard by the nation, the world (though they would not use such words). The appropriate response to such comments differs from child to child, but I recognize it's not much different from how I respond to their individual, expressed desires to be in gangs, to the music they listen to and recite, the movies they watch, the games they play, the presentation of their competitive life philosophy. It's a bit overwhelming at times.

I often think back to when I was living in a world similar to theirs. My childhood gangs, music, games, movies etc.. were the seeds for this generation. When I was in those shoes, no one understood us, or could tell us otherwise.

I'm not in those shoes-but I use those memories as I reach out to my kids.

The last thing I will mention is that war makes saying no to gang violence, crew violence, violence in general a hard sale. My kids are taught competition is motivation, might makes right, violence gives you voice, guns give you an audience, coercion is key.. So far I have enjoyed the few months a year I get in order to deal with that programming on a group and individual basis.. it's a challenge for sure.

kingdom and will, come and be done, here as there.. may it be!

We watch the news and we wake up to the world that is. It is broken. There is real evil here. Left unchecked and unrestrained in any of us it would wreak the eventual destruction of life. It happens every day. And what is done cannot be undone. But what may otherwise become the inevitable end in any situation can be avoided - the story rewritten - by the simple but sustained invasion of heavenly presence in and through the lives of those who belong to God.

We go to Him to be saved from our own darkness, and then we participate in the dawning of His kingdom here. Simple, faithful acts of kindness, forgiveness, acceptance, and appropriate and well-timed truth-telling - can rewrite a person's story from one of destruction to one of deliverance. I am watching this happen this week.

Not all evil can be prevented in this world, but it can be curbed. We do not know of the violence that goes unrealized in the otherwise destructive lives of those who've been redeemed by God. How many of us are there in the Kingdom today that might have been perpetrators of these very deeds were it not for the redemption Christ has already brought (and is currently bringing) through our lives?

Never underestimate "unnoticed" acts of kindness. Never assume the little we can do makes no difference. Indeed, Christ knows the force of the revolution He has begun. Let us trust Him to do what He does greatly through that which we can do but feebly.

Could it be that God is in the suffering? Could the suffering be necessary so that we stop relying on our flesh, and start living from God? We hit a wall with suffering, our own and those of our fellow creatures. We can only do so much and it isn't enough...we need God. And He is there...He has done it all and He is at rest. I believe He is a God of happy endings no matter what we see here and now. This here and now counts but in the grand scheme of things it is not lasting, not eternal. I am encouraged when I look beyond what I see to God..."the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." Maybe our apathy comes from the lie that we are supposed to be God...we know in our spirits we can never be that but we have yet to learn to live from Him...to stop eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and to eat from the tree of life.

Patty,

Yes, and no...

"Pie in the sky" is the very thing here and now oppressors have comforted their oppressed with... Jesus' example of loving to death and then saying "you'll do more than I when the spirit comes" sort of points us toward being the hands and feet, with Jesus as head...

The kingdom is among us - whether or not it comes into fullness - thus it's the kingdom life to live (not in name it claim it, I won the lotto sense - but a kingdom ethic, moral, life, love, faith...)