Another terrible historic moment

I hope this post finds you well. I’m writing to follow up and share thoughts regarding the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. It’s a dark day for the USA whenever anything like this happens. No matter what your persuasion, I hope you will join me in condemning another cowardly attack and praying for the families involved.

I’ve heard from several people with quotes about “living by the sword and dying by the sword.” That just doesn’t feel appropriate to me. Rhetoric is one thing, and both sides have accused one another of stoking fires. Taking action like this is another thing entirely. On the other hand, I’ve heard folks saying that God saved another president from an assassination attempt. That is a type of theology, but not one I share.

So what’s a Christian response?

I think it’s important to have a Christian response to major events, and I hope we’ll always speak from the side of love and care for all involved. In addition to Donald Trump, I’m feeling badly for the family of Corey Camperatore, who lost his life shielding others. David Dutch and James Copenhaver, though each shot, will hopefully recover in body and spirit from this attack. The assailant is also dead.

Every passing touches people in different ways. Each action has a commensurate reaction. Every loss is felt terribly by someone. As a follower of Jesus, I’m never surprised by violence. Jesus lived in a time of empire when lives were short. You could not share your views and opinions willy-nilly on the street corners of Roman colonies under the protection of “free speech.”

Yet from that tenuous existence, Jesus rose up to share a message of peace and love, forgiveness and kindness. He didn’t only do it when it was easy. He offered forgiveness from the cross, even as his earthly life was ending. His response to the violence done against him was peace. Jesus preached hope. He offered a sense of possibility when diplomacy had failed.

No matter how you vote, you know this was wrong.

I hope and pray that our elections will be free and fair. They should always be free of violence as well. No matter what else comes out of this terrible attack, let’s remind ourselves and others that this kind of action disrespects the sanctity of the lives of children of God. Let’s urge calm and correction.

And let’s pray for peace and health for everyone without distinction. Working together, let’s move beyond lip-service to ideas like unity. Let’s unite in our rejection of violence as a tool in human life. Jesus said God is love. Let it be so.