“A Tragedy in Washington, DC”

The tragic shooting of Steve Scalise, GOP House Majority Whip, while practicing for a charity ballgame by a crazed critic of Trump and Republicans serves to illustrate the deep and deepening divide in this country between the liberal and the conservative agendas.  The liberal side calls for increased gun controls.  The conservative side calls for less gun controls, fueled by the Ads from the NRA specifically targeting the increase in left wing violence.  The NRA manages somehow to omit that 84-85% of shooting crimes against innocents are committed by right wing vigilantes.  Some Republicans managed even to blame past President Obama as the cause of this week’s shooting, while ignoring the real problem, which is President Trump and his divisive, exclusive right wing policies.  While energizing the conservative right, he has also energized the left and moved many toward advocating violence.  It is a sad, sad day when we have no other way than to settle our differences with guns and knives, or sticks with nails affixed.  What, in fact, do we think we are doing?  Do we not know those we are demonizing are our cousins, our neighbors and in more reasonable times, our friends?

Neither the right nor the left seems equipped to admit something is tragically wrong with the way this country, that is, you and me as citizens are doing business with one another.  We have forgotten the art of the civilized debate surrounding ideas and instead have moved further than ever down the road of resolving our differences with violence.  Martin Luther King, Jr. surely taught us that violence is never the means to bring about societal change.  He chose instead the moral high road, the appeal to the conscience of those who perpetuated violence toward the black Americans.  It was and is a difficult battle, but the end result was, for a time, a society attempting to move to less inequality between the races and more opportunities for all.  In the presence of Mr. Trump, we have lost this sense of a common republic.  Now, desperately, we need another Martin Luther King, Jr. who can lead us through this quagmire of hatred which is fueling our nation leading to more and more separation and potential violence.  M. Gandhi, during his non-violent struggle in India with the British rule said, “An eye for an eye only serves to make the whole world blind!”

The loss of respect for this President and his conservative agenda, made worse by his daily “tweets” of inflammatory language has done nothing to unite our country.  Unless we, and I emphasize “we” find a way through this quagmire of hatred and violence, it is possible we could see a significant loss of life of many innocents from persons without good sense who use these kinds of philosophical divisions to promote their own violent agendas.  Many of those on the right and the left who care nothing about anyone save their own “revolution” will seduce innocent persons to support their radicalized agendas and hold many captive to violent means to promote and to justify their equally violent ends.  I pray to God our philosophical divisions never lead to this!

Whatever blame we would like to place on the conservative or the liberal sides of these arguments regarding how to govern this nation will not serve to bring a common language of discourse leading to solution.  We can no longer afford to demonize one another, as the further we go down this road of separation, the less we will be able to control the outcome.  Violence begets more violence and hatred begets new hatreds.  In this downward spiral will anyone ever escape and find true peace?

Now is a good time for all reasonable persons to tone down the rhetoric of hatred and violence toward our brothers and our sisters, regardless of race, creed, or nationality.  Is it not enough that we destroy one another with words? The next step, when persons of good will take up weapons only leads to tragedy upon tragedy and violence upon violence!

I am not sure if there are those in Washington, DC, who have the leadership potential to walk out into the middle of this “killing field” and stop the violence brewing in the heartland of this nation.  Would to God we had a different president who could engender good will among us.  President Trump is unfortunately the wrong man for this job!  I continue to pray and hope that our God in Jesus Christ our Savior will bring forth another to lead this greatest of all nations.  It looks like we may simply “muddle through this.”  May God in God’s great mercies help us in this season of trial and peril for this our nation.  President Trump’s obstruction of justice may become one of the greatest constitutional crises this nation has ever faced, even worse than President Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre.” However, this may serve as a means to begin a new dialogue that will unite our nation again.  I hope to God he has better sense than to fire anyone else!

I fear, for myself and for my children for what lies before us.  May the Lord guide us, helping us by His loving and gracious hand!  I find no other hope except in our Lord and in the prayers of God’s people for justice, righteousness, truth and compassion to rule and overrule across this our nation.  May the Lord Himself help us!  May the Lord Jesus Christ help us!  May the Lord God, our merciful Father hear our prayers, in Jesus Christ our Lord, the Peace giver and the Healer of the Nations.  Amen and Amen!

“Amen!  We praise you, Lord Jesus Christ!  May we be reminded that you died on the cross and in your own self took all violence, hatred and greed into your own being so that True Love, Truth, Righteousness, Justice and Peace might flow from your side for the healing of the nations!  Lord, remind us of these things!  Fill our hearts with your love that brings forgiveness, new hope and peace among us and among all your people everywhere.  And for those who advocate violence, separation and hatred among us, separate them from us as you separate the wheat from the chaff and remove them from all positions of power and influence so they can be replaced by those whose hearts are full of your Love, O God, to bring You Glory among the nations, that we may glorify and give honor and praise to your name, O most Holy Lord, our God, my God, our Lord and our King!    Remind all of us that you are the God who only advocates the way of love, as shown on the cross in the suffering and dying of Jesus Christ our Lord! “Amen!”

The Voice of one crying in this Wilderness, “Make straight in this desert a highway for our God!”

Let all of God’s people say, “Amen!”

“Amen!