Sticks and Stones May Break Our Bones, but Words Lead to Assassinations
Our stories create heaven and hell on earth
“But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister[1], you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult a brother or sister you will be liable to the council, and if you say, ‘You fool,[2]’ you will be liable to the hell[3] of fire.” – Matthew 5:22
Last night, former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania. An innocent attendee was shot dead, and then the shooter was killed by police. Violence on violence on violence.
The coming days will no doubt reveal troubling details as investigators scramble to figure out who was behind the attempt and their motivations for public bloodshed.
We’ve been here before, too many times to count. Humanity’s violence shape-shifts daily.
If we sat down together, you and I, to review the violence we’ve soaked in just in the first six months of 2024, our souls might shrivel in despair. We might hold each other and weep, and perhaps we’d whisper prayers for mercy and forgiveness because, somewhere deep inside, we know the problem is deeper and wider than whatever form the current horror takes.
In a heartbreaking twist of irony, my family was very recently discussing the assassination of President Biden because, apparently, there are content creators out there who are suggesting his death would be preferable to his political loss to Trump come fall.
Right or left, it seems violence and hatred are rooted in the hearts of many and the bill for harboring such things always comes due.
As he is wont to do, Jesus lobs a hard teaching at us in Matthew 5:22 when he warns us against hurling terms of abuse at our fellow human beings. In straightforward fashion, he connects anger with insult and insult with hateful name calling. And he underscores the danger in succumbing to our basest, most hateful instincts – we will be held accountable and there will be consequences.
Most of us ignore this teaching because it feels nearly impossible to faithfully keep. In a world where mockery and name calling are encouraged, promoted, rewarded, and admired, it’s exceedingly difficult to avoid joining in. Add to that the fact that many people do, indeed, incite our anger, invite our insults, and deserve our hatred. Why does this matter so much to God that Jesus issues such dire warnings?
I’m convinced that it’s because Jesus is aware of the power of our words in shaping the stories that create our reality. He knows that when we heap terms of abuse on another, we are telling ourselves a false story, or at least a woefully incomplete one.
A story that scapegoats and dehumanizes and denies the Divine image reflected in their sacred soul.
This is so hard to live by, isn’t it? The honoring of the Divine image in every human being? I mean what do we do with Hitler, Jeffrey Dahmer, Osama Bin Laden, and the other humans who have committed indescribable evils in the world?
What do we do with Trump when we believe he is a threat to democracy and a totalitarian dictator? Or with Biden when we believe he wants to destroy everything Americans have built and surrender our way of life to the control of foreign countries?
What happens to our minds, bodies, and souls when we allow ourselves to believe the kinds of stories that would justify taking the life of another?
After all, our words, which create our stories, are all we have. The only reason we “know” anything is because it was transmitted to us through story. Science, math, theology, philosophy, history, and every source of human wisdom are packaged in stories that help us create the meaning which shape our world.
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” – Proverbs 18:21
If we create reality with our stories, and if you study how interpersonal neurobiology works you will realize how much we do from macro to micro levels, then suddenly Jesus’s hard teaching takes on a different tone.
He’s not so much scolding us into being nice to one another as He is revealing to us one of the greatest secrets of existence. If we tell wounding stories of dehumanization, scapegoating, and hatred about one another, we will bring hell down upon ourselves. We will be creating a world in which the “fools” deserve to be punished, cast out, humiliated and even killed. And, in that kind of world, we are all liable to be one of the “fools” depending upon whose perspective we’re taking.
In other words, we create a perpetual dangerous environment for us all.
Conversely, if we tell ourselves healing stories that are grounded in faith, hope, and love, we transform our inner world into a home for God and for others. With these kinds of stories shaping our reality we have a fighting chance at creating environments where we can respectfully disagree while continuing to care for the well-being of one another. We can debate and argue and vote differently while simultaneously honoring and protecting one another.
If this sounds Pollyanna-ish, I ask you to rethink that assessment. I’m not suggesting we can overthrow all the evil in the world by replacing bad stories with good stories, but I am suggesting we can transform our homes and communities, and such transformation can create a ripple effect that surpasses our wildest imaginations. At the very least we can have a little heaven right here on earth.
Today we wake up to a reckoning. Our cruel memes, our feeding frenzy of conspiracy stories, our terrorizing algorithms, our reductive arguments and careless insults have led us down the path to Gehenna, to a hell of our own making.
The question of our time is will we continue down the path or will we turn back for the path to home? Will we call each other “fools” until we’re all so wounded we forget what being human is all about? Or will we allow the Divine image in ourselves to recognize the Divine in the other and reach out in love, to create together a world worth living in?
“Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” – Matthew 24:10-13
[1] Other ancient authorities add without cause
[2] An obscure term of abuse
[3] Gehenna
I recently wrote these two questions in my journal: How do we struggle in principled ways? How do we hold conflict (disagremment) in meaningful ways? Miss you.
I read this, then listened to your beautiful voice. Amber, you've always amazed me. I truly look up to you (even though I'm older). I love you. Thank you for sharing God's word and your feelings.