For When There Are Shootings

Elizabeth Brick is the pastor of the United Methodist Church in Rancho Cordova, California. She wrote this last Sunday afternoon —

Today as I was putting away the fifty candles we lit for the victims of the Christchurch Mosque shootings. I heard myself say: “This is where we keep the candles for when there are shootings.”

Oh. My. God.

Teachers shouldn’t have to teach their students about what to do if there’s an active shooter.

Pastors, Rabbis, Imams should not need emergency plans for active shooter situations.

Children, worshippers, helpers, public servants should never have to fear attending school, church, or work each day.

And yet, today, putting away the candles, I recognized that I have a real place where I keep the actual candles that we use specifically when there are mass shootings in religious settings, schools, and workplaces.

Lord, have mercy.

— Amen and Amen.