 |
| Crystal icon on our south-facing window. |
It was at a Bible study in the sanctuary of the Emanuel
African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, on Wednesday evening, when a young
white man walked in and was warmly welcomed.
Greeted by the pastor and his congregants, this person sat
among this group for an hour, as they read and discussed the meaning of selections
from Holy Scripture and their daily application for each of them.
When the hour-long discussion period ended, this 21-year-old
allegedly pulled out a .45 caliber handgun, hurled racial slurs at the peaceful
assembly, then began shooting and reloading, killing nine of God’s faithful.
Securely holding the grip of that handgun, the alleged
murderer carefully squeezed off one shot after another: His mind had already metastasized into one of
mankind’s most horrific examples of the essence of evil in action.
The man’s father is reported to have given his son – this
bucket-full of hatred – birthday money with which he purchased that instrument of death.
No philosopher, no theologian, no therapist will ever be
able to sufficiently explain why the viral nature of evil cannot withstand the
compelling beauty of peaceful souls such as those personified by the nine
saints of Charleston, South Carolina.
There was nothing before; there is nothing now; there will
never be anything stronger than the combined faith of all the saints from Charleston’s AME Church,
as they sustain and work through the pain of this unspeakable horror.
I know not how else to relate to this tragedy.
Note: One of the
victims, Sharonda-Coleman
Singleton was raised in New Jersey.
No comments:
Post a Comment