The presidential campaign season has turned deadly with two lives lost at a Pennsylvania rally. Three have been injured, including former President Donald Trump. We mourn for the families that have lost loved ones and we pray for the health of all who have been injured and for their swift recovery. We are grateful that others did not perish.
The political climate in this country has been festering for several years now and we are saddened that the rhetoric has become so divisive that people feel they must resort to violence. Campaigns defer to name calling and falsehoods in an effort to win votes. Lawmakers spend more time trading barbs and personal insults than conducting the business of the country. With the Republican National Convention beginning this week in Milwaukee and the Democratic National Convention scheduled next month in Chicago, it is our prayer that cooler heads will prevail and that our politicians in the coming days and weeks ahead will continue to speak out against violence of any kind.
Gun violence and bloodshed in this country and around the world have reached epic proportions. We pray that God’s loving hand will restore our humanity, heal the wounds of hate, and guide us to a new reality where love and compassion replace vengeance and injustice. Our hearts cry for a time when all weapons of destruction can be cast aside, and bonds of peace and harmony can heal the scars that have been left behind. But for this to happen, it must begin with us.
Rev. Bronwen Boswell
Acting Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)