October 19, 2022
“No Shoot-outs on Shetland”: A Prayer
O Lord, there are no shoot-outs on Shetland, no shoot-outs
on the latest British crime drama
we’ve gotten hooked on,
no violence played out,
violence only off-screen,
violence not used to stop violence,
no shoot-outs;
and the same
with other
contemporary British crime dramas
we’ve gotten hooked on,
not like
American crime dramas,
no show without a shoot-out,
no Season 2 without Season 1 gore galore,
no viewers without violence,
but then
what’s new,
Americans have
loved violence
from day one,
front pages of newspapers
always filled with
death and depravity, because
always has sold,
way back when and
still today;
lead stories on TV news
the same,
violence means viewership;
movies no different,
the violent as heroes,
how problems solved,
how evil overcome,
how bad guys beaten,
violence saving the day,
violence the answer to violence,
violence redeeming;
shoot-outs
as
salvation.
O Lord, what’s with us anyway? What’s our thing with
violence?
That bored, are we?
Lives that boring, are they?
People that boring, are they?
Crave
excitement,
thrills,
action,
do we?
Need
a weekly
violence fix
do we?
No matter the answer, the reason, the why, we’ve got a
big problem,
more and more people
turning to violence to
express anger and frustration,
resolve arguments,
prove they’re somebody;
and
the problem is,
kids are paying attention,
learning destructive behavior,
doing what see adults doing,
shooting it out,
like they do
on TV,
in the movies,
in games, online, everywhere,
in a culture that is shot,
shot through and through
with
violence.
O Lord, it may be too late for some, maybe many adults, because
attitudes, beliefs, behaviors,
so deep,
so ingrained,
so set in stone;
too late to change,
too late to set a good example,
too late to be anything other
than what
always been,
so angry they are,
so bitter they are,
so resentful they are;
loving
violent language the way they do,
loving
violent threats the way they do,
loving
violent action the way they do;
but
not too late
for the children;
and so I pray that
parents would be parents,
teach their children
how to manage anger,
how to deal with frustration,
how to resolve arguments
without violence;
teach their children
to take responsibility,
to not blame others,
to trust they are
of worth to God and others;
teach their children
a better way,
the way of kindness,
the way of graciousness,
the way of loving the other;
and pray too
that
churches and synagogues and mosques
teach children
a better way,
stop accepting violence,
stop looking the other way,
stop supporting politics of violence,
and
start affirming virtues again,
start facing what needs to be faced in our culture,
start schooling children as to how to make good choices
and develop character;
and pray also
that
more and more adults
model
a better way,
model faith,
model love,
model peace,
because
the children
are our hope,
our only hope.
What
are we teaching them?
And we pray, O Lord, that you would heal, comfort, strengthen
those who are ill or hospitalized, those who are suffering,
those who are dying, those who are grieving, and
the hungry and homeless and refugees.
And move us
to be there for them,
to support and console them,
to offer food and housing
and hope.
O Lord, there are no shoot-outs on Shetland, and so it’s
no wonder that it’s not on CBS,
more suited to PBS,
too tame for prime time,
but maybe it’s
high time
for a tamer prime time,
and a tamer time
in schools and on streets,
high time
we all of us
help make our
time
less violent,
less savage,
less Mortal Kombat-like
a little more
Shetland-like.
Amen.