Reports are emerging that 2021 is proving to be one of the deadliest years in history, noting a 66% rise in gun sales and record-breaking statistics regarding gun violence. As we seek ways to “return to normalcy” post COVID-19, how should we respond to trauma and the consequences of isolation, anger, and political/cultural turmoil.
Here are two articles to consider:
“2020 Was the Deadliest Gun Violence Year in Decades. So far, 2021 is Worse“, by TheBault, Fox, and Ba Tran. Washington Post.
“In January and February of 2021, people bought more guns than they did during either month of any previous year in which such purchases were recorded. In January alone, about 2.5 million guns were sold, the third-highest one-month total, behind only June and July of 2020…A large body of research shows gun availability increases the relative risk of fatal shootings, and Buggs co-wrote a study last year that found an association between firearm purchases that spring and a statistically significant increase in firearm violence.”
“We Need to Remember the Scars of Our Trauma in a Post-Pandemic World“, by Laura Ellis, Baptist News Global.
“The immense loss and inability to mourn is palpable, and we know that these remnants of anxiety and grief do not merely disappear once the world reopens its doors. Rather, as we enter into this new time of partial liberation, we carry with us these wounds that have not been given the luxury to properly heal. Some of them are still gaping open, while others are uncomfortably glazed with thick layers of scar tissue.
“As we enter into this new time of partial liberation, we carry with us these wounds that have not been given the luxury to properly heal.”
In this time, I am reminded of Jesus’ resurrected body, which still bore the scars of crucifixion. We can learn something from the fact that Jesus did not return in his pre-crucified body. His body could not be the same one he had before the event of crucifixion. Rather, it showed evidence of the ordeal because his scars could not be erased.”
How can the Church serve as a place of healing and restoration?
Baptist Spirituality 
Thank you again for your insightful articles. I just don’t understand how many more killings that are going to happpen and no one does anything about it. So sad.