Dear Ones In Christ Jesus:

I greet you in the in the strong name of Jesus the Christ, Prince of Peace.

In no uncertain terms, I condemn the assassination attempt on the former President Donald J. Trump. Whatever the reason, cause, or motivation it is unacceptable and cannot and should not be tolerated or accommodated. My prayers are for the former President and his family, and equally for others victimized by the shooter, dead or injured, and their families also traumatized.

Beyond this unconscionable incident, I call upon all of us to go deeper. Let me be specific:

• Such depth includes taking seriously how tragically fragile we are in this nation and the world in dealing with difference and living into the best values of democratic governance.
• We should not miss yet another moment in addressing gun violence in this nation, our world and our local communities. We seem to have more energy in this season around banning books than we do about curbing guns.
• Finally, I boldly call upon each of us to renew or claim for the first time being “apostles of nonviolence”.

Often on Christmas Eve we sing or hear sung, O Holy Night. In verse three, there are a couple of lines that I cannot and should not shake. They read like this:

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is Peace

If the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not about peace, peace making and peace building, it is impotent to touch the deep pain of this world.

Yours in Christ,

+Gregory V. Palmer