Have you heard that gun advocates are planning a “Gun Appreciation Day” on January 19^th? Opposition to sensible gun control measures is well funded and well organized. I, and we, have a choice. We can do what we’ve done after every other mass killing and allow our energy and attention to wane. There certainly are other issues that demand our attention. Or we can be faithful, keep up the pressure for action and help get something done. I urge you to join me in keeping the faith…this time.

Our collective heart was broken by the Newtown massacre. We were sad and mad. We wrote our elected leaders, made contributions to gun control groups and argued for a mental health safety net with fewer gaping holes. But we’ve done that before…after Virginia Tech, after Columbine, after Tucson, after Aurora. Nothing changed after those tragedies. That reality is a result both of effective pressure from gun advocates AND our short attention span.

What I know is that no action is, in fact, action. If we cannot organize and motivate ourselves to keep the pressure on for change, then we become complicit in the next mass tragedy and the daily tragedies of gun violence that are so common they rarely make the news. 400+ gun deaths just since Newtown.

This Sunday, our collection will go to CeaseFire Oregon for their gun buy-back program. You can also support their legislative efforts to pass more rigorous gun control laws in Salem. The “Gun Free Zone” banner that many of you will remember from two years ago will be hanging outside the church again. And I will be inviting all of you to join me in sending a letter to Vice-President Biden, who is leading the development of recommendations to reduce gun violence for President Obama. Click here to read my letter and come to the Peace Action Table or the Buchan reception following both services to sign-on to this letter.

My promise is to do everything that I can to help this nation chart a different course. I’ve realized that, for me, this is a matter of faith. Remember Einstein’s famous definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. We cannot change the effectiveness or the funding of the gun advocates. What we can change is our response.

I look forward to seeing you in church on Sunday.

Bill