Shut up and sit shiva

Today is a busy day, so this will not begin to contain all I wish to say.  But if I say nothing at all, I think I will burst.  I do not know which I am more ashamed to be associated with today:  Christians who are assuming a conection between Sandy Hook and the removal of prayer from school ( or even further seeing this as a consequence or punishment for a nation adrift spiritually) or Liberals who are shouting for gun control reform (do you really think we could come up with a law that would have prevented Adam from doing what he did?  Really?)

Now is the time to sit shiva...as a nation.  I am not jewish and my knowledge of shiva is extremely limited, so if I misspeak please forgive me and look beyond to the intent.  Shiva is a jewish custom of  mourning the death of a loved one by coming to the house of the deceased and simply, quietly sitting with the family and mourning with them.  When Jesus arrived at Bethany after the death of Lazarus the friends and family of Mary and Martha were sitting shiva with them. 

Do you see the picture?  This is a time to mourn in a profound way.  To weep with those who are broken-hearted and deeply in pain.  What can you and I do to enter their pain?  We can pray and mourn with them, even if we are no where near Connecticut.  We can remember them all daily and the very hard road that lays before the whole community.  We can be silent and enter their pain..much like Jesus did in entering our world all those years ago.  We can be still and quiet on their behalf.

We can shut up.  Now is not the time to talk about gun control.  Now is not the time to talk about mental healthcare.  And it's not time to bemoan how far our society has drifted from its once-held judeo-christian beliefs.  Moving to these, in less than a week, is a dishonor to those who died and a disservice to those who remain.  Shame on us.  Shame on us as a nation.

What happened at Sandy Hook strikes fear and anger in all of us.  We desperately want to jump to action to prevent it from ever happening again.  But we will never be able to eradicate evil from our society, not completely.  And that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.  But not this week, not the rest of this month.  There will be a time to honor those from Sandy Hook by changing our nation for the better, but this is not it.

But now is a time to shut up.  Be still.  Mourn.  Pray for those who are decimated by this tragedy.  It is a time to sit shiva...as a nation.