What Keeps Me Going

Last week, Protect Minnesota sponsored a Peace Vigil in commemoration of the six-month passing of the Sandy Hook shooting.  It was held in a lovely Peace Garden, across the street from a beautiful Rose Garden, adjacent to Lake Harriet in Minneapolis.  There were three speakers.  I addressed the moral imperative underlying gun violence prevention.  Here are my comments, slightly altered.

We are gathered as a community of many faiths dedicated to gun violence prevention.  We have decided to step-up, stand-up, and speak-up.  The road ahead will be difficult.  But in the words of John f. Kennedy, "We have traveled too far, we have suffered too much, to disdain the future now."  It is our collective beliefs that will inspire us to victory and keep us going.  

Although I speak from a Judeo-Christian perspective, the moral vision is universal because the God of love is universal.

What keeps me going is the grace of God.  Grace frees and empowers action.  Grace makes GVP a moral issue. A moral issue is a people issue, a personal issue, a family issue.  The Koran reads: "My Lord, inspire me with gratitude for the grace which Thou hast bestowed upon me, and upon my parents, and inspire me to do good that will be pleasing unto Thee."

What keeps me going is the Creation story in Genesis where there was peace, shalom, harmony, nonviolence, and balance.  This is how we were and are created to live, as ONE people, brothers and sisters ALL.

What inspires me are the Ten Commandments where we read that we are not to kill or murder.

What inspires me is Isaiah: "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares...."  Our nation is hemorrhaging guns beyond what is safe and necessary.  Gun manufacturers are now the barons of wealth, caring more about profit than people.

What keeps me going is the Prophet Jeremiah: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."

What keeps me going is Jesus.  Jesus reminds us what it means to be a human being.  There is no record of Jesus carrying a weapon, nor of Jesus killing someone.  Jesus' weapon was love.

What keeps me going is the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the Children of God."  Children reflect the Kingdom, the Reign of God because of their vulnerability, their "clean slate", their innocence.

What keeps me going is the Great Commandment: "Love God, love others, love yourself."

What keeps me going is Jesus telling his disciples in rebuke, "Enough!" when a disciple presents Jesus with two swords.  Bob Dylan asked the question, "How many deaths will it take till we know that too many people have died?"  It is time to say "Enough!"

What keeps me going is Jesus telling Peter, "No more of this!  Put the sword back in its place, for all who take the sword shall perish by the sword."

What keeps me going is Paul telling us the Fruits of the Spirit are: "Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control."  All the Fruits are nonviolent.

What keeps me going is the writer of Ephesians who talks about the Armor of God: shoes of peace, belt of Truth, shield of faith, breastplate of justice, sword of the Spirit, and the helmet of salvation.  All pieces are nonviolent.  An AR-15 is not the armor of God, nor is an AK-47, nor a Glock.

What keeps me going is the truth that together we can tap the deepest morality of our common faiths and say with courage and direct action: "Sandy Hook, no more of this, enough!  Aurora, no more of this, enough!  Red Lake, no more of this, enough!  Virginia Tech, no more of this, enough!  Columbine, no more of this, enough!  No more, no more, no more!  Enough!