Six years ago today on this Feast of St. Barnabas I was ordained a deacon. Today I lived into those vows by joining the March for Our Lives in Monterey, CA - publicly witnessing to God's love and against the forces that destroy. In this case, gun violence. I was so glad to be joined by some of my parishioners and other clergy (not all pictured).
Barnabas is known as the "son of encouragement," for his support of the faithful in the earliest days of Christianity. I hope that I emulate Barnabas in being an encourager. The world has so many critics; I admit to being one of those, as well. But I understand that my call to ordained ministry is to build up love and goodness so that evil has no chance. I try always to remain hopeful, to actively look for hope and to point it out so that others might see it as well.
The hope I found today was in hundreds of people gathering - only one of hundreds of similar gatherings around the country and the world - to call for sane gun laws. Only in the United States do we tolerate the mass slaughter of our citizens in the name of the right to bear arms. Our Declaration of Independence famously says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." I am curious when our skewed understandings of liberty and happiness became more important than life.
Each person is uniquely created and infinitely treasured by the Source of all being. Gun violence is preventable and must be stopped so that no more precious humans become victims. Today I encourage you to do whatever you can to bring love into the world, to protect the vulnerable, to stare down the forces of destruction. I will be right by your side, but more importantly, God - the greatest encourger of all - is with us.