Author: Diana Shellenberger
“They will know we are Christians by our love.” Traditional hymn based on John 13:35
Some people who call themselves Christians have substituted the love the hymn praises for love of guns. They seem to identify more with the Crusaders than with the universal love Jesus Christ teaches.
I wrote the poem below as part of our church’s remembrance of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary, now nine years ago. It’s hard not to despair that it took nine years to bring agent provocateur Alex Jones to justice for calling the murders a false flag operation, but I’ll take it. This long slog contains a much-needed critique of one of our founding principles: radical independence. The pandemic is revealing what a fallacy it is. So many Americans do not understand we’re all connected. We can love and respect each other enough to wear masks, get vaccinated, and distance. Or we can carelessly and selfishly spread a deadly disease.
Our faith community is proving we’re all responsible for each other. As we light each other’s candles during Christmas worship services, let’s share the light with our larger communities.
Lessons
December 14, 2012
the day twenty first-graders were massacred in their classrooms
could have been the day we stopped selling
weapons of war to anyone
December 14, 2012 could have been the day
we confessed we were powerless over our addiction to violence
December 14, 2012 could have been the day
we revoked our stubborn defense
of a disputed right to gun ownership
We could have done something to honor the memories of the children
of Sandy Hook
Columbine
Marjory Stoneman Douglas
and now Oxford
Instead, Congress and the gun lobby did worse than nothing
They suggested the answer to school shootings
was more guns
guns for teachers
bulletproof backpacks for kids
and active shooter drills
In school our children are learning
they’re not safe anywhere
Our children are learning
a stubborn misinterpretation of a governing document
matters more than their safety
matters more than their lives
Our children are learning
the world is a cruel, dangerous place
and powerful people are unwilling to make it better
When our children could be learning
loving our neighbors makes us all more secure
When our children could be learning
it’s OK to change something that hurts others
When our children could be learning
to develop cooperation and problem-solving skills
I’m not ready to write this country’s epitaph
My children live here
On the tombstone of uninfringed gun rights
I want to write
Americans decided enough was enough
