Did You Hear The One About The Rabbi And The Priest?

Published by

Michael K. Marsh

July 20, 2023

No, it’s not a joke. It’s a deep and growing friendship born of tragedy. A rabbi and a priest were brought together by gun violence. It is, as they say, “a club no one wants to belong to.” And yet it seems new members are continually being added.

I joined the club on May 24, 2022. As many of you know I serve St. Philip’s Epsicopal Church in Uvalde, Texas. On that day we had a mass shooting at an elementary school. Twenty-two people died; nineteen students, two teachers, and the young man who did the shooting. Seventeen others were injured.

Seven weeks later on July 4, 2022, Bruce joined the club when yet another mass shooting occurred and a young man killed seven people and wounded forty-eight others at the Highland Park Independence Day parade. Bruce is a rabbi serving Congregation Hakafa.

Several weeks after the Highland Park shooting my phone rang late one afternoon. I didn’t recognize the number but I answered anyway, and I’m glad I did. I don’t remember the exact conversation but it went something like this: “Hi. My name is Bruce. I’m a rabbi serving in a community that has suffered a mass shooting. You’re a priest serving in a community that has suffered a mass shooting. I was wondering if you’d like to talk about what we’ve experienced.” Without hesitation I said, “Yes.” It’s weird how a club with so many members can leave you feeling so lonely. Though neither Bruce nor I chose to join the club, every day since his call we have chosen each other.

A couple of weeks before the first anniversary of the Uvalde shooting Bruce asked if I would be on his podcast and talk about the shooting, my experience, and the first anniversary. We did the podcast on May 30, 2023.

I don’t know where these kind of conversations will take us but I think they need to continue, expand, and deepen. We need to re-member the (dis-membered) past for the sake of the future, ours and that of those who come after us. I don’t offer any grand solutions. I have no answers. I only have my experience, my tears and prayers, my voice, and my sense of responsibility.

I hope this podcast will spur you to have conversations, to weep and pray for the pain of the world, to speak up, and to work for change.

A rabbi and a priest, Highland Park and Uvalde – we’re just two in a long and growing list. With each addition to that list I go back to the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel:

“Few are guilty, but all are responsible.”¹

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1. Abraham J. Heschel, The Prophets, vol. 1 (NY: Harper & Row, 1969), 16.

Podcast, Social Justice

Future, Gun Violence, Mass Shooting, Podcast, Social Justice, Uvalde, Violence

6 responses to “Did You Hear The One About The Rabbi And The Priest?”

Glen Magnuson

July 20, 2023

Many thanks. Splendid stuff.

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1. Michael K. Marsh
  
  July 25, 2023
  
  Thank you Glen. Peace be with you, Mike
  
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mobersby@netspace.net.au

July 20, 2023

Dear Mike, Your pain radiates from what you have written. I too feel that pain at the lostness of so many in a world where there is no belief in anything beyond what they can see and touch and feel. The older I get, and the longer I am in ministry, the less I feel I have the words to speak adequately into that vast sense of emptiness and lostness I see around me. The US is a violent place, or so it appears, to me looking in from the outside; and Australia is pretty much a Godless place, with an increasing gap between the haves and the have nots; and now many of the have nots include those with professional qualifications and jobs. When I was much younger, I was part of an ecumenical Christian community, in the late 60’s early 70’s; and one of the posters on the wall of our centre read: “The Church is scratching where nobody’s itching.” We were very passionate and bent on making the Church relevant to our world at the time. There was a great interest in spiritual things then and we were able to be part of it. I know there is still a deep hunger for wholeness in the people I meet and I am privileged to be able to speak into that when I am preparing a funeral service, or a baptism or a wedding.People’s immediate responses show me that there is this deep hunger; but the Church and any talk publicly of Christianity in my society falls on deaf ears. There is no longer much of a connection with the church for most people; nor a recognition of what that deep hunger is about. I guess I am just expressing my own deep grief at the lostness of so many and their lack of openness to what could give them hope. As you say, there are many questions, many problems and few answers; but I am encouraged by your connection with the Rabbi and by the way you’re sharing your pain and your faith and drawing strength from each other as well as from your relationship with God . I don’t think I’ve expressed myself very clearly here, but thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings with me and others. Your willingness to be open and vulnerable helps me to continue to be so, even when it is deeply painful. Blessings, Marilyn Obersby

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1. Michael K. Marsh
  
  July 25, 2023
  
  Marilyn, you’ve expressed yourself beautifully and deeply. Thank you for sharing yourself in that way. I feel much of what you’ve described – and also, like you, I find a hunger in people (and myself) for something deeper. Perhaps comments like yours and conversations like mine with Bruce are starting places. Maybe we begin with or focus more on people and their experiences rather than the doctrines and traditions of the church. And that’s not to reject or diminish the church’s teachings. I think they were always meant to point to and connect people with the deep, the ultimate, the transcendent.
  
  I am grateful for your presence. Peace be with you.
  
  Mike
  
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Emma Smith

July 21, 2023

Dear Mike

I found the podcast incredibly moving and very brave., also full of wisdom and inspiration. A big thank you. Emma (You may not remember me but I was part of your reading group during lockdown)

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Michael K. Marsh

July 25, 2023

Emma, yes, of course I remember you. It’s so nice to hear from you. I appreciate your good and encouraging words about the podcast. Thank you for watching it. I hope you are well and having a good summer.

Peace be with you,
Mike

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