Earlier this week,
a terrible shooting took place in South Carolina. It can be tempting to focus on the specifics of this case, asking how a young man could commit such a crime or dismissing the incident as the actions of an insane person.
But I think many people also acknowledge that this is yet another horrific reminder that there is brokenness in our country. Gun laws and race relations - these are two issues that are hard to talk about, and are sometimes uncomfortable. And yet, they are both plaguing our nation, and little is being done to affect change. How do we process this? What can we do to avoid feeling powerless and filled with despair? I want to offer a suggestion.
First of all, this IS incomprehensible. It is impossible to understand why someone would sit through a Bible class - much like the ones we hold weekly here at Ohev Shalom - and then turn around and kill the very people with whom you were studying. It is equally challenging to grapple with the ease with which this person obtained a weapon.
Furthermore, his heinous act has also, once again, ripped open the wound of racism which DOES still exist in this country, and which we ignore at our own peril. Clearly. Here at Ohev Shalom, we are in the early stages of a community partnership called FUSE. Together with religious communities in Swarthmore, Wallingford, Media, and - most importantly - in Chester and Marcus Hook, we are trying to tackle these big questions head on. Right now, we are mainly laying the groundwork with conversations, dialogue, communication, and networking. Why? Because we currently do NOT live as though we are one community. And we must.
I do not personally know what it's like to fear gun violence on a daily basis. And I do not experience constant racial prejudice or bias. Do you? And if we look beyond these
quagmire issues, and instead focus on just building bridges with other communities and learning to see the world from another point-of-view, there is much we can gain from FUSE and the potential partnerships it will foster. Is FUSE going to solve all our issues? No. It's not a cure-all, but it IS a step forward, and something that you and I, in our little corner of the world, can concretely do to bring peace and understanding into the world, rather than hate and destruction.
I don't know if this is the "correct" path to take. But I believe leadership is about taking a risk, and taking a leap of faith. In this week's
parashah, Moses and Aaron face several rebellions from disgruntled Israelites. Are they right; are they wrong? Who's to say? We can get bogged down in the specifics, and we can obsess over criticizing and
assigning blame. At its core, Moses is sticking his neck out. He's being a leader, and he's doing the best he can. It's always easier to complain and undermine on the sidelines. The dissenters may have a point, they may even be right. But there are times when strong leadership is needed, and someone has got to grab the reigns, pick a path, and just start walking. There was a lot of chaos in that wilderness, and they might have still been stranded there if Moses hadn't taken charge. We're in a wilderness of our own right now, and sometimes it feels like there's no path forward out of the violence and hate. Let's forge that path; let's fuse it together with others in our community. And let us be leaders to those around us and strive to affect real change. I hope you will choose to walk this road with me.
Photos in this blog post:
1. Image of Heeding God's Call's Memorial to the Lost (victims of gun violence in our county, each represented by a t-shirt) courtesy of Ohev Shalom.
2. CC image of "Stop violence!" sculpture in Petach Tikva, Israel courtesy of Dr. Avishai Teicher on Wikimedia Commons
3. Image from one of the first FUSE events in March, 2015
4. CC image courtesy of Richard Webb on Wikimedia Commons
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