Search
-
Calvary by Marie Howe
Someone hanging clothes on a line between buildings,
someone shaking out a rug from an open window,
might have heard hammering, one or two blocks away,
and thought little or nothing of it.
Drew and I had invited friends over for dinner; it turned out to be the day Muslims praying in Christchurch were murdered. One guest posed the question: is there a way to stop such shootings? While there was general agreement it is difficult to prevent one bigoted individual with semi-automatic weaponry from wreaking havoc, I did voice my opinion about the importance of standing up to condemn such events, of incarnating the value that life is sacred and killing is sinful.
The next morning, I received an email announcing a vigil for those who died or were injured in New Zealand. I had to smile - wasn’t God inviting me to put my body where my mouth had been? I accepted the invitation. On the steps at One Public Square, I found other members of Christ the King parish who had showed up as well.
Various Muslim imams, Jewish rabbis, Christian ministers and public figures spoke. Yet it is an image that has stayed with me. As we kept a moment of silence, I saw a rabbi put her arm around a Muslim and hold her. In that moment, I remembered Jesus’ insight that we are brothers and sisters — and the American promise that we would try to live that truth out.