The Geography of Death?

An essay (written, no audio this time)

Sunday morning after the assassination attempt of Donald Trump, I attended Mass. I have been hearing Sunday Mass every week in recent years after a long departure. I used to be a C&E Catholic (Christmas & Easter) or what I like to refer to as a lukewarm Christian.

My parish avoids any mention of current events and I thought will the priest be able to ignore this historic event? Well, he didn’t ignore it totally. He only referred to the violence in the world and we should be grateful for the secret service agents who are trained to take a bullet for those they protect. Okay, at least he mentioned it. I had so many thoughts running through my head like, yes the rank and file try to do their best in spite of bad leadership (corrupt, incompetent, or evil - take your pick). I see this across corporations, government agencies, religious institutions. The rank and file is misrepresented by M&Ms (those who are mediocre and mendacious).

As I sat in the pew waiting for the Mass to begin, I thought of my uncle who would say, that the bullet that missed Trump by less than an inch, was steeped in the concept of the geography of death. September 11^th was an example of this concept. There were many stories of those who escaped death by being late for work, or missing an elevator and those who met their end that day because of where they were, not because of anything divine. My uncle was a logical fellow, a proud atheist. He reduced life’s events in terms of place and time, nothing more.

Although tempted to see this latest incident through my uncle’s view, I decided to see the world the way that works for me. I asked God to give me a sign if it was His divine providence that saved the life of the man at the podium.

The first reading had a reference to a place called, Bethel. That jumped out to me since the place where the shooter lived was Bethel Park, PA.

When I returned home, I looked up the Book of Amos since a portion of it was part of the reading. Here is my summary of what was written in The New American Bible, revised edition, Fireside Catholic Publishing.

Amos was a sheep breeder of Tekoa in Judah who prophesied in Israel at the cult center of Bethel. The priest of Bethel expelled Amos from their shrine of power because he denounced Israel for their sins of idolatry and injustice that raged against the light which was granted to her. Amos’s message challenged hypocrisy and injustice. He boldly indicts kings, priest, and leaders. Amos had to go by those who feared his message. His warning is a traditional one throughout history and evident today. Through the prophetic word and various natural disasters, the Lord had tried to bring the people to repentance, but to no avail. Instead, their rebelliousness exhausted the divine patience and the destruction of Israel as a nation was inevitable. However, the book ends on a hopeful note in Amos 9: 11-15) Below is a quote that marks God’s salvation after a dark, disturbing period.

On that day I will raise up the fallen hut of David:
I will wall up its breaches, raise up its ruins.
and rebuild it as in the days of old.
Then they may possess the remnant of Edom,
and all the nations claimed in my name-
oracle of the Lord, the one who does this.
Yes, days are coming-
oracle of the Lord-
When the one who plows shall overtake the one who reaps
and the vintager, the sower of the seed;
The mountains shall drip with the juice of grapes.
and all the hills shall run with it.
I will restore my people Israel, they shall rebuild and inhabit
their ruined cities.
Plant vineyards and drink the wine, set out gardens and eat the fruits
I will plant them upon their own ground
never again shall they be plucked from the land I have given them-
the Lord, your God, has spoken.

God gives us signs but what do we do with them? For me when I look at the political landscape and if anger rises up in me, then I know I have been manipulated.

I was dropped into this story of the time I am living and that’s it, a story.