Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“And the Lord said, ‘What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!’”
NL Daily Devotion for Monday, September 9, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Why do we kill each other? Yesterday, at this writing, a fourteen-year-old murdered two fellow students and two teachers at a school in Georgia. Another senseless killing in a string of so many school shootings I’m afraid I’m becoming desensitized. Clearly there are multiple things in play. I don’t think healthy people just casually kill other people. Cain killed Abel out of jealousy (and let’s be honest: God kind of set it up by playing favorites) but I have to believe there was something wrong in Cain’s heart of hearts for him to have done such a thing. Something deep and broken.
As a society we have so much love and compassion and joy. But we are also, like Cain, suffering from something deep and broken within us. And every time something like this happens, or any sort of killing, or the inflicting of harm of any kind, God grieves and shouts, “What have you done? Listen; your siblings’ blood is crying out to me from the ground!” May we, too, grieve, and then ask God for the power to work to change ourselves and our society.
How is God calling me to respond to killings in our communities?
