As I was leaving church with my son I looked down. There was something shiny on the ground. A bullet casing.
Someone had shot a bullet and this bit of brass landed here.
On the doorstep of my church. Where we worship the Prince of Peace. Where we learn that those who make peace are blessed.
I put my foot on it — didn’t want the boy to see it.
I stuck it in my pocket.
Later I Googled the words inscribed by the manufacturer. It turns out that this is cheap ammunition for automatic weapons of some kind. You buy them in large numbers — apparently one needs to shoot off quite a few.
Anyway, if you do the math the thing cost somebody 43¢.
I don’t know which disturbed me more: finding it, or knowing you could get two of them for less than a buck.
O that instead we were more like St. Francis of Assisi (d. 1226) — a man of peace even in places of conflict.
Francis had been a warrior, before Christ took hold of him. But ever after he tried to do what Jesus said, to live as simply, lovingly, joyfully, as Christ in the Gospels. To him that looked like pure poverty, living on what he could get by begging, and caring for lepers, society’s outcasts.
His simple and pure discipleship made him fearless. There were wars on, so Francis went out to the Crusades. But Francis went not to fight, but to talk about Jesus with those Europe’s armies called enemies.
He went, unarmed, onto the fields of battle.
The story is told that the Muslim soldiers found him there, with one of his “little brothers,” wandering in their rags. Instead of killing them, they took them to safety. Their faith inspired mercy on the mentally ill or delayed.
Eventually the soldiers took Francis to their sultan, where he spoke very persuasively indeed about salvation in Christ.
I wonder if I can live as a peacemaker in a world where people are shooting cheap bullets. There are conflicts global, local, and domestic. Peace is needed everywhere. I wonder if our Christian communities can live as witnesses to the peace Christ brings in and among us.
The police dispatcher sent an officer by my house to pick up the remnant of a cheap bullet later that day. I wish that Jesus would come by and pick up all the fear and hatred that inspires people to use them.
Gary, I’d like to share another perspective. Maybe you didn’t hear this story, but it happened while I was a distance student at UDTS. As you know, I pastored a small church in Salmon, Idaho. A part of our community ethos included the shooting in cold blood of a much-loved Four Square pastor in the pulpit a few decades ago. When I began to receive death threats taped to the marquee outside the church, my congregation and I took it seriously. We turned the hand-written notes over to the local police, and they provided drive-by’s on Sunday mornings.
During those tense weeks, I was reminded that we have a Savior who told His disciples that the Gospel must be preached–and who warned them that if they had two cloaks, they must sell one and buy a sword. This same Savior billed Himself as the Good Shepherd–willing to take on the thieves and predators who would attack the sheep. Don’t forget that there is a pretty thorough job description of a Good Shepherd in Psalm 23–among other things, He is armed with a “rod and a staff,” which we are told are actually a comfort to the sheep. The staff is a crook made for snagging the wayward sheep and bringing it back onto the path–but the rod is a lethal club made out of the root ball of a small tree, with the trunk cut to the right length to be the handle, and with the business end often sheathed in leather or pounded metal to make it more effective for bashing in the skulls of those same thieves and predators who mean harm to the sheep.
Ken Bailey once commented that the only thing changed about shepherding in modern times is that the rod has been replaced by the high-powered rifle. The sheep are still “comforted” by an armed shepherd. In my situation, even though I was the “shepherd” so to speak, I found myself extremely comforted by the knowledge that at least one of my elders had a concealed carry permit and was quietly “packing” on Sunday mornings in worship, as I stepped into the pulpit to preach knowing that someone wanted to take my life for doing so.
Our local police eventually solved the case–the same perp was threatening the Catholic priest as well, and was dumb enough to leave a message on the Catholic church’s answering machine, which had a caller ID. I’m happy to report that the solution was a peaceful visit in which one of the officers and I talked with the perp. The threats stopped. No shots were fired. Nonetheless, it was comforting to know that a shepherd wielded a “rod” while I was under threat of harm.
Jesus traveled under the protection of His disciples for three years of ministry. I submit that Gethsemane was not the first time that Peter was armed–nor was Peter likely the only one carrying a short sword. Jesus would have known that His disciples were “packing.” Sometimes peace is best served by a strong defense. As Christians, we are called to do justice–does this not sometimes include defending the defenseless?
We all long for peace…but we live in a broken and imperfect world, where we are far more apt to experience Christ’s peace as an inner peace which strengthens us to bear the violence that same broken world throws at us. I certainly experienced more of Christ’s peace those Sunday mornings, knowing other Christians were looking out for me, in addition to knowing that Christ Himself had my back, no matter what happened.
Blessings,
Heidi
PS: (BTW, what you pictured was not “part of a bullet”–it was a spent shell casing. The bullet is the bit of lead which has already been fired out of it. It is not uncommon for people who own guns to have a spent shell casing in a pocket–and the one you pictured could have easily been dropped when someone was fishing for a lighter or a coin in a full pocket.)
Blessings,
There is another story about Francis and how he would try to stop hangings and acts of violence towards others. I pray that others find Jesus and God’s love that one day peace may be found.
may God’s Peace be with you
Tobias caskey
Thank you Tobias! I remember that you are a great admirer of St. Francis and St. Clare. Amazing people.
Peace be with you as well.
Gary