"Every time either side chooses to treat fellow Americans as enemies to be destroyed, it feeds the same permission structures that make violence feel inevitable."
Abel kills Cain—Thoughts the day after Charley Kirk is assassinated.
We in Milwaukee experience death and violence on nearly a daily basis. And so do ‘we’ reverberates across the nation.
The causes are many, the solutions few or seemingly ineffective. Our leaders, Milwaukee’s Mayor Cavalier Johnson has said, “enough is enough.” He seeks the path described in this article. Yes, it’s the leaders and finding ways to hold them accountable is crucial. Yet, it is all of us practicing a ‘love of neighbor’ in every particular of our daily lives. “What can I(one person do?” That!
Stories of the human condition are legion. They also invite endless interpretations. Different people have different experiences. The ‘truth’ of any story lies in the understanding and application it is given through unique experiences.
I write this reflection the day after the assassination of Charley Kirk. Personal and shared sorrow for him through individual and community practice is immediately important.
Yet, there is more. There is tomorrow. Is there something revealed in the Cain and Abel story that gives me pause to consider who I am as a citizen of the United States of America. I want to try to share how it’s making its impact on me.
The story of Cain’s hatred of his brother Abel invites us to see my own complicity in acts of hate, even those where I’ve not been present nor will be charged with a crime. Are there ways for me to find ways to grasp the reality including the horrifying act that took Mr. Kirk’s ‘one and only life.’ Is there any way at all that I or we can be moved by the possibility of forgiveness?
Is ‘Forgiveness’ possible without meaningful accountability? Abel was basically given the death sentence then a reprieve. This is extremely hard for me to understand or to practice. It does, however keep me in the reality of the situation with my own connection and responsibility. My quick reaction to not demonize the killer goes nowhere. That is different from using ‘victim’ language to reduce responsibility. It may offer the an opportunity to be more deeply ‘human’ ourselves.
I interpret the story of two brothers “Cain and Abel” as an opportunity to step away from using it to take out our anger on others. The story speaks to me especially about tendencies in my own life to be ‘hateful.’ As well as to call out the deep presence of hate in our common life. It calls me to consider how I can de-humanize others and excuse it by blaming them for in someway disrupting my life. As the story points out, violence and hatred has existed from the very genesis of human life. There is something true and defining of the essence of the response of human beings to others that is captured in this story. Yet, it also offers the reader a way to take notice and do something about it.
Starting now. At tonight’s dinner table or conversation at the local bar or during and after book club, church bingo, Packer’s Football game or patiently waiting in rush hour traffic or for the cardiologist to return my semi-urgent call.—-rick deines
Gen.4 Verses 1 to 16 Oxford Revised Standard Version of The ‘Bible’*
[1] Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD."
[2] And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground.
[3] In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground,
[4] and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering,
[5] but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
"Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen?
[7] If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
[8] Cain said to Abel his brother, "Let us go out to the field." And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.
[9] Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?”
[10] And the LORD said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
[11] And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
[12] When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth."
[13] Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear.
[14] Behold, thou hast driven me this day away from the ground; and from thy face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me.”
[15] Then the LORD said to him, "Not so! If any one slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him.
[16] Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
*The ‘Bible’ is not the sacred text of all readers. That does not diminish the depth Truth of its stories. That decision belongs to the readers. For some the word ‘Lord’ may be a stumbling block indicating a specific ‘god’ belonging to another religion. It is, however, a recognition of a power present in life, a sacred dimension that is simply a real Presence in human experience.
Abel kills Cain—Thoughts the day after Charley Kirk is assassinated.
We in Milwaukee experience death and violence on nearly a daily basis. And so do ‘we’ reverberates across the nation.
The causes are many, the solutions few or seemingly ineffective. Our leaders, Milwaukee’s Mayor Cavalier Johnson has said, “enough is enough.” He seeks the path described in this article. Yes, it’s the leaders and finding ways to hold them accountable is crucial. Yet, it is all of us practicing a ‘love of neighbor’ in every particular of our daily lives. “What can I(one person do?” That!
Stories of the human condition are legion. They also invite endless interpretations. Different people have different experiences. The ‘truth’ of any story lies in the understanding and application it is given through unique experiences.
I write this reflection the day after the assassination of Charley Kirk. Personal and shared sorrow for him through individual and community practice is immediately important.
Yet, there is more. There is tomorrow. Is there something revealed in the Cain and Abel story that gives me pause to consider who I am as a citizen of the United States of America. I want to try to share how it’s making its impact on me.
The story of Cain’s hatred of his brother Abel invites us to see my own complicity in acts of hate, even those where I’ve not been present nor will be charged with a crime. Are there ways for me to find ways to grasp the reality including the horrifying act that took Mr. Kirk’s ‘one and only life.’ Is there any way at all that I or we can be moved by the possibility of forgiveness?
Is ‘Forgiveness’ possible without meaningful accountability? Abel was basically given the death sentence then a reprieve. This is extremely hard for me to understand or to practice. It does, however keep me in the reality of the situation with my own connection and responsibility. My quick reaction to not demonize the killer goes nowhere. That is different from using ‘victim’ language to reduce responsibility. It may offer the an opportunity to be more deeply ‘human’ ourselves.
I interpret the story of two brothers “Cain and Abel” as an opportunity to step away from using it to take out our anger on others. The story speaks to me especially about tendencies in my own life to be ‘hateful.’ As well as to call out the deep presence of hate in our common life. It calls me to consider how I can de-humanize others and excuse it by blaming them for in someway disrupting my life. As the story points out, violence and hatred has existed from the very genesis of human life. There is something true and defining of the essence of the response of human beings to others that is captured in this story. Yet, it also offers the reader a way to take notice and do something about it.
Starting now. At tonight’s dinner table or conversation at the local bar or during and after book club, church bingo, Packer’s Football game or patiently waiting in rush hour traffic or for the cardiologist to return my semi-urgent call.—-rick deines
Gen.4 Verses 1 to 16 Oxford Revised Standard Version of The ‘Bible’*
[1] Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD."
[2] And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground.
[3] In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground,
[4] and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering,
[5] but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
"Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen?
[7] If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
[8] Cain said to Abel his brother, "Let us go out to the field." And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.
[9] Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?”
[10] And the LORD said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
[11] And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
[12] When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth."
[13] Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear.
[14] Behold, thou hast driven me this day away from the ground; and from thy face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me.”
[15] Then the LORD said to him, "Not so! If any one slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him.
[16] Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
*The ‘Bible’ is not the sacred text of all readers. That does not diminish the depth Truth of its stories. That decision belongs to the readers. For some the word ‘Lord’ may be a stumbling block indicating a specific ‘god’ belonging to another religion. It is, however, a recognition of a power present in life, a sacred dimension that is simply a real Presence in human experience.