Overcome evil with good

Dear Friends

From Monterey Park to Memphis (and so many other places in our country and the world), we have been overwhelmed with news, in the past couple of weeks, that is hard to bear.

But maybe we haven’t been overwhelmed---because these things keep happening. As an essay in Sunday’s LA Times put it, “We have been here before and we will be here again.” Dr. Paul Nestadt, a professor of psychiatry at John Hopkins University, is quoted as saying, “A numbing is happening. The normalization of tragedy is human nature. It’s called adaptive psychology. If we allowed these deaths to live in our head, we wouldn’t be able to live ourselves.”

Thomas Curwen, who wrote the essay which is focused on the Monterey Park massacre said, “A familiar dirge has begun, voices rising up, struggling to find the words to match this horrendous act.”

I struggle to find the words and so for help, I look to our Hymnal, our Book of Common Prayer and, of course, Holy Scripture.

Hymn #594 includes these words: “Save us from weak resignation to the evils we deplore” and “Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the facing of this hour”, and in the next verse, “for the living of these days”.  On Ash Wednesday, in the Litany of Penitence, these words can help shake us out of our numbness: “Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done: for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty.”

But Romans 12:21 offers the best words of all for going forward:

“Do not be overcome by evil,

but overcome evil with good.”

In the meantime and along the way, Lord have mercy upon us.

John

P.S. I didn’t notice until after I took the picture of the palm trees this morning, that there is a wide blue strip in the midst of the clouds. Perhaps there is a lesson here---look for the good in the midst of tragedy. In any case, I will try to find a lighter subject for my next blog.

Letter to the LA Times

Thank you for one of the best editorials I’ve read concerning gun violence. The point about killers having one thing in common---they have guns---reminds me of an exchange on the television show 7^th Heaven, many years ago. Rev. Camden is told that “guns don’t kill; people do”. To which he quickly replied, “people with guns kill people!”

There is some initial reporting about the killer having some anger issues and was looking for his ex-wife. Whether that turns out to be the case or not, it reminds me of Homer Simpson being told he had to wait a few days for a background check before purchasing a gun. He replied, “But I’m angry now!”

Of course reducing gun violence requires we look at many issues. But how many deaths, how many years will it take, until we are able to look in the mirror and say, “It’s the guns, stupid”.

John Saville, Corona, CA.

Dear Friends

Above is my letter to the editor published this morning in the LA Times. It was Rev. Eric Camden on a 7^th Heaven episode who answered, “People with guns kill people!” James Carville coined the phrase “It’s the economy stupid” as a campaign strategist for Bill Clinton’s successful first campaign for the president---I changed economy to guns.

Glad to hear that today, the Senate took up legislation (again) to ban the sale, manufacture and importation of military-style assault weapons and high capacity magazines and other high capacity ammunition feeding devices. This includes the gun used by the civilian shooter in Monterey Park.

This will unlikely be passed anytime soon, but someday it will. Historians will wonder what took us so long!

John 

Turning the Corner

Dear Friends

I loved this year’s Rose Parade theme: “Turning the Corner”. In contrast to “Turning over a new leaf” (which makes me think of New Year’s resolutions and expecting quick results), turning the corner might be understood as an ongoing process of things getting better. Grand Marshall Gabby Giffords and Buffalo Bill’s safety Damar Hamlin remind us that turning the corner from a severe health crisis can take time, although Damar is off to a remarkable start according to initial reports.

It seems we are turning the corner in terms of the pandemic, although we need to remain vigilant. In general, we think of turning the corner as leaving some challenge behind to start a new life or return to a life we had lost or taken for granted.

But turning the corner can also bring us face to face with new challenges. When Rose Parade participants literally turn the corner from Orange Grove to Colorado Boulevard, they are just beginning the challenge of a five and a half mile, slightly uphill journey. Temperatures some years---very high or low---have increased the challenge.

Sometimes we choose to turn a corner, knowing there may be obstacles, but trusting the road will eventually lead to new life or accomplishment (or the finish line if you are running the Boston Marathon---think of “Heartbreak Hill”)!

It has been said that courage is fear saying its prayers. Whatever corners you have already turned, are turning, or will turn in the future, remember the words Joshua spoke after he took over for Moses: (1:9)

“Be strong and be courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed,

for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Fr. John