Feeling deep anguish

Reflections

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“A cry is heard in Ramah – deep anguish and bitter weeping. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted – for her children are gone.” (Jeremiah 31:15.)

Yet again a man with a gun (why always men?) has opened fire on a group of defenseless human beings. And yet again we hear the familiar platitudes “thoughts and prayers,” “our deepest condolences,” “reprehensible act.” I heard someone suggest that this is the work of the devil and we must pray against this evil.

Well it is the work of the devil that is found in the hearts of those who refuse to pass legislation that requires background checks before purchasing firearms. It is the work of the devil in the hearts of those who fund legislation to promote the indiscriminate sale of firearms. 

It is the work of the devil that hardens hearts to continue a firearms convention in the same state as where these children were killed by firearms. Now some might say – “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people.” But allowing people unfettered access to guns without any boundaries is not freedom – it is an open door to "deep anguish and bitter weeping.”

The children of Uvalde are gone; the church members of Geneva Presbyterian Church are gone; the elderly shoppers of the store in Buffalo are gone. We cannot continue like this. 

The evil in the hearts of the legislators must stop.