Vibrant Colors of the Paradise

I am deeply saddened to write this note this morning about the death of four students at the University of Idaho. I pray for their families for whom this tragedy is heart-wrenching. We mourn with them and pray for them. I send my condolences to the families, students, faculty, and administration of the school.

I also mourn the deaths of three students of the University of Virginia who were shot to death today and others who were wounded from yet another gun violence.

The tragedy of these is more than the violence in our schools, it is the death of a collective consciousness of respect for human life. When meaningless deaths happen regularly due to negligence, violence, or war, we become indifferent and struggle to stand up against the barbaric behavior of those who perpetrate them, including the pastors and politicians who sometimes condone them. We have seen such tragic behavior for the last several years in the country, on January 6th, and if not careful, will see it again in the future, unless we speak up.

All life in every form, big or small, is dear to God and necessary for the balance and sustainability of our world as God's beautiful creation. To forget that we belong with and for each other is a tragedy in itself but worse, it propels heinous acts against the human family we all belong to.

Violence, physical or verbal, breeds only violence just like respect and reverence for life, yours and mine, and that of all into which God breathed life, creates life. You and I have a choice to live the culture of life or death. The former will require us to believe we are one human family. We are not separated by political, ethnic, racial, or religious differences but rather united by such intriguing diversity that makes us beautiful and vibrant flowers in God's paradise here and now.

+Jos

XIV Bishop of Idaho