My entire plan for blogging today was to make a witty, Shakespearean reference on Facebook about the Ides of March. But now it seems we all really must beware, every day, lest a gunman enter our church, or synagogue, or mosque and mow us down.
Accidental video
I watched a snippet, the worst snippet, of the video. I found it in a Tweet with the #Christchurch tag. Knowing that anyone, asshole or ally, could be posting under that hashtag, I assumed the freeze frame showed a 1st-person shooter video game, and that some Islamophobic loser was trolling the twitterverse. A few seconds in, I realized the images were actually video, framed in a Facebook Live feed. So I rewound it to the beginning. To my shame, I rewound and watched with newly discovered context. I wanted to feel shock, anger, disgust, empathy. But it wasn’t that automatic or that easy. I had to continuously remind myself that the victims were ACTUAL PEOPLE. A lifetime spent watching screens, of disassociating myself from locations exotic and local, made it hard for natural emotions to flow.But for the grace of God…
My morning prayers include a petition I adapted from Martin Luther. His original translates to
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
The Small Catechism, Martin Luther
Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. After I prayed this sentiment this morning, I stopped cold. How many of our brothers and sisters of The Book prayed similar things yesterday morning? And then died powerless at the hands of an evil foe. Why am I safely walking my dog, while 49 New Zealanders will not see this day? Unsurprisingly, I have no answer for this. Is evil stronger than God? Does God even exist?
Can faith recover?
This kind of terrorism should shake the foundations of faith and prompt us to examine what those foundations are built on. Because people are building a platform for violence on our sacred foundations. We all need to support each other in our examination. We need to check on each other, pray for one another, and demonstrate our support in person. My experience with the Facebook Live video illustrates how easily we disconnect ourselves from pain. Only by connecting with the pain of others can we hope to heal and grow from these wounds.
Child of MAGA Adults 