The past few days have been horrifying. A bombing and shooting rampage in Oslo, three separate mass shootings in Seattle over personal disputes, a road-rage incident that ended up with an innocent bystander dead... all horrific in their own way and all examples of the marriage between hate and aggression. It's been overwhelming to me - to see so many lives lost, tragically and senselessly. I keep asking the question - what makes people think it's okay to pull out a gun when they are angry? What is different now than it was twenty years ago? Have we somehow taught this generation that the best way to solve a problem is to bully your way through it?
Then I am gently reminded that this is not such a new problem. From the earliest days of humanity, we have a consciousness of our darker side - of the evil that lives inside of each and every one of us, that sometimes feels like it's going to escape. In the early pages of Genesis, we have two brothers - Cain and Abel. One is a shepherd, one a farmer - and both offer sacrifices from their labors to the God that walked with their parents in the Garden of Eden. Abel's is accepted. Cain's is not. The anger and frustration boil over, and Cain lures his brother to the field, and kills him. Hatred and aggression, married together into tragedy.
Whether or not you accept the literal and historical truth of this sacred story, it is clear that the earliest storytellers were concerned with this dark side of humanity. They recognized that we are all capable of something equally horrific, and sometimes at the smallest trigger will release the bullet.
But there is good news, too. Yes, like Cain we all must suffer the consequences of our actions - we cannot take someone's life (literally or figuratively) without dire consequences. Cain was sent away from God, out of the land destined to wander the earth. We also suffer consequences. But we also have the hope of redemption. Unlike Cain, WE don't have to stay wandering in the wilderness. WE are not destined to being sent away from God's presence for eternity. In fact, we have Jesus Christ who makes it possible for us to return, fall on our knees before God, and say we're sorry - and feel God's welcome embrace. God welcomes us home, dresses us in glorious new clothes, and throws a party.
It is no less heartbreaking to hear stories of senseless, violent death. It still makes no sense to me how someone can be so callous toward human life, can allow their anger to take over so much of who they are that they kill. In fact, it's a little more desperate to think that this is human condition, not cultural conditioning. But I find hope in the promise that God's Kingdom will someday rule over all the earth - the yeast is still rising, the seed is still sprouting. And until that day, I will try to spread love into hearts full of hate.
