The first beams of Easter broke

On Good Friday, we read how a great darkness fell over all the land. "Darkness" is a word we use for many different conditions, both externally, such as after the sun has set or after a death, or internally, as a spiritual confusion and separation from God. We humans beings are afraid of the dark and know we don't want ever to be that afraid again.

A powerful sermon preached by Pastor S.M. Lockridge was: "It's Friday, but Sunday's Coming." This sermon captures for me our present darkness.

During the past 20 years, beginning with the murders at Westside Middle School, there has been an increase in gun violence. However, out of the darkness of the murders of 14 students, a geography teacher, an assistant football coach and the athletic director at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida, light has started to creep back.

We have been lulled into complacency by the oft-repeated myth created by the political arm of the National Rifle Association. It claims that Congress will pass a bill authorizing federal forces to break down our doors and take all our guns -- collectively 350 million guns. No such bill has ever been introduced; but, everywhere I go, people believe that "gun control," means the taking away of guns. The NRA's commercial after the latest murders was a picture of an AR-15 with the tagline, "I'll keep mine."

In 1996, Arkansas Representative Jay Dickey offered an amendment to the budget of the Center for Disease and Protection that prevented the funding of any research on gun violence. It passed.

Later, Dickey tried to convince Congress that this was a mistake. He said, "This gun violence must stop. We must do the research. It's a national health crises." It is still the law.

On March 14, one month after the Valentine's Day murders, students across America were contacted through social media and asked to walk out of their classes and spend 17 minutes remembering the dead. After the names were read, the students returned to class and chanted, "2, 4, 6, 8, we want to graduate." The first beams of Easter broke through the darkness.

These students, teachers and administrators had felt that inextricable bond that exists between all their peers across America. They were scared.

The movement leaders knew that what they needed to do was to accept the reality of political negotiations because big problems can take time to solve. They are determined to work within the democracy and not outside it.

No American flags were burned. Instead, they turned to the civil rights non-violent action of registering people to vote. Many of the seniors will be 18 by the time of the 2018 elections, and almost all of the current high school students will be eligible to vote in 2020. They will vote, as will their adult supporters.

I attended the March 24, "March for our Lives" in Bentonville. Present were students, parents, grandparents, teachers, religious leaders and concerned members of an older generation.

Also present was the intense fear the students, teachers and administrators feel every day when they enter a school building. I saw signs that said, "Wear your running shoes to school. We may be next," and " I am a teacher, I love to teach, I want to live, " and "I am a parent. When I send my children to school, I hope I get to see them again," and "To the spouses of policemen, firemen and EMTs, I get it. I want my teacher spouse to come home from work."

It is a health issue and the patient, America, is in critical condition. But it's Sunday and the light of Easter has broken over America. Alleluia!

Ken Parks is the former rector of St. Theodore's Episcopal Church in Bella Vista. He can be reached by email to [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.

Religion on 04/18/2018