Love in a Time of Mass Shootings

What does it mean to Love One Another?

Dear Friends,

As I spent the week with my head down trying to finish the final proofing and edits of my book, the world continued on. It almost seems futile at times to try to write a book that is current when the world will change as the email is sent with all the final documents attached. 

The lectionary text for this past Sunday was Jesus’ command to the disciples: Love one another as I have loved you. A simple command on the surface, but it stands in stark contrast to the events of a week that contained two mass shootings. The one in Buffalo is being categorized as a hate crime as the shooter was a self-proclaimed white supremacist who left a manifesto online making it very clear his aim was to kill Black people who were threatening to “replace” white people. That replacement theory is as old as this country: older even. The idea of whiteness was invented to unify people of European descent against the indigenious people and enslaved Africans who were beginning to outnumber them. Th…