Fierce Urgency Now

President Obama issued a call to action today. 

"In the words of Dr. King," he said, "We've got to feel the fierce urgency of now" and take common-sense steps to save lives and protect more of our children.

Here's an excerpt that includes the moment he had to wipe away tears:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/05/politics/obama-executive-action-gun-control/index.html

He cited these statistics to underline that urgency:

• 30,000 lives are lost per year to gun violence--almost as many as to car accidents.   http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/injury.htm
• 60% of gun purchases are made at stores and with background checks.
• 40% of gun purchases are made without any background checks, including online and at gun shows.

http://www.factcheck.org/2013/03/guns-acquired-without-background-checks/

President Obama's words were so moving:

"I believe in the Second Amendment....I taught Constitutional law--I know a little about this....Second Amendment rights are important, but there are other rights we care about as well... 

Our right to worship freely and safely--that right was denied to Christians in Charleston, South Carolina... Jews in Kansas City... Muslims in Chapel Hill, and Sikhs in Oak Creek. 

Our right to peaceful assembly--that right was robbed from moviegoers in Aurora and Lafayette. 

Our unalienable right to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness--those rights were stripped from college students in Blacksburg and Santa Barbara, from high schoolers at Columbine, and from first-graders in Newtown. First-graders."

At that point the President had to wipe away tears--as did I and many of those listening.

The President had been introduced by Mark Barden, whose son Daniel was killed in the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.  

Gabby Giffords was among those in the audience.

I believe that in the years after he leaves office, this president will continue to use his influence primarily to curb gun deaths, in the way that Jimmy Carter has worked on international peace and on housing.

What the President recommends--some of which will be done by executive order:

1) Number one, anybody in the business of selling firearms must get a license and conduct background checks, or be subject to criminal prosecutions.  (Applause.)  It doesn’t matter whether you’re doing it over the Internet or at a gun show.  Bring background check system into the 21st century.

2)  Enforce existing gun safety laws and add 200 more ATF agents and investigators.

3)  Get funding to make mental health care improvements.

4)  Increase gun safety technology... so a child can't pull a trigger.  Like apps for tablets, phones.

"So all of us need to demand a Congress brave enough to stand up to the gun lobby’s lies," he said. "All of us need to stand up and protect our citizens.  All of us need to demand governors and legislatures and businesses do their part to make our communities safer.  We need the wide majority of responsible gun owners who grieve with us every time this happens and feel like your views are not being properly represented to join with us to demand something better."  

Full text of the president's remarks while issuing executive orders, including orders to enforce existing gun-safety laws already on the books:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/01/05/remarks-president-common-sense-gun-safety-reform

Bearing Fruit

"In God's garden of grace, even a broken tree bears fruit," says Rick Warren in an interview tonight on CNN.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/09/17/rick-warren-speaks-out-on-sons-suicide/comment-page-1/

He and his wife Kay walk where parents fear to tread, down a path of grief after the death of their son Matthew as a result of mental illness.

I was moved by their words in this interview.

I too have lived with the fear of losing a child and perhaps come close to it.

There are many televangelists and charismatic pastors of mega churches, some of whom like Jim Bakker and Ted Haggard are known for their hypocrisy.

Rick Warren, however, is a genuine man of God.

"Beware of false prophets," said Jesus.  "You will know them by their fruits.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit" (Matthew 7:15-20).

I give thanks and praise to God for the life and witness of Rick and Kay Warren as they move with grace through this tragedy and use it to help others.

https://matthewwarrenfund.com/

Rick, Kay and Heartbreak

Life is harder for the children of successful parents.  

When you add to that the special pressures on preachers' kids and an underlying genetic vulnerability to a mental illness, the outcome is precarious.  

Prayer may or may not result in healing.  

My heart aches with Rick and Kay Warren in the loss of their son Matthew a week ago.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rick-warren-leads-sermon-in-loss-using-facebook-twitter-20130412,0,1152255.story

"There but for the grace of God" all parents can go--but the whole tragedy of Matthew taking his own life is drenched in grace.  Apparently the grace of God did not--could not?--prevent this outcome.  

Nevertheless, God's loving care, forgiveness, and redemption are found throughout this story.

Matthew was raised to know God's presence and forgiveness.  Rick has chosen to grieve and reflect publicly, on Twitter and Facebook, to help others facing similar tragedies.

We do not live alone, even in the bleakest moments.  The grief I feel can touch the despair someone else feels.  

For years I have been worrying about my adult children and praying that Jesus would speak the words "Talitha, cumi" to them--that they would hear those words and rise from their beds, as did the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:41).

This prayer was surely close to Rick and Kay's hearts for years, yet the recovery they prayed for did not happen, as least not on earth.  

I met Rick Warren a few years ago after attending a worship service at Saddleback Church in Orange County.  Afterward, he sat on a cement bench in the patio talking with people.  

At the time, I didn't know he had problems with this son similar to those I have been facing with my daughters, but I did sense his genuineness.  He was accessible, not condescending or remote.

I've concluded that children who grow up with moderately successful parents--in our case, an editor at the Los Angeles Times and a college professor--face more pressure to succeed in academics and in a career.  Many political leaders and celebrities have lost a child to suicide.  

A first-generation college student or a hard-working child of poor immigants faces different kinds of challenges, but the possibility of not doing as well as their parents is not threatening them.

Matthew's death will bring attention to the number of suicides per year among young, white males--and the role of easy access to guns in those deaths.  Good may come from this attention, and perhaps lives will be saved.

There were 34,598 deaths by suicide in 2007 in the U.S.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/suicide-in-the-us-statistics-and-prevention/index.shtml


Consider these statistics for young men in the year 2001:


Suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people aged 15-24 years old.

73% of all suicide deaths are white males.

80% of all firearm suicide deaths are white males.


http://www.suicide.org/suicide-statistics.html