The Unclad Soul

I am a prisoner of Richard Martinez’s haunting words at the brief press conference last Saturday where he poured out his heart about the senseless death of his son Chris who was murdered last Friday in Santa Barbara, California. I cannot escape his emotional words. Choking with grief, consumed with rage, he passionately asked why his son had to die for nothing. Christopher Martinez and five others killed by a gun obsessed, volatile and deranged classmate, were all students at the University of California, Santa Barbara.  Chris was 20 years old. At the press conference his father said, “Chris was a really great kid. Ask anyone who knew him. His death has left our family lost and broken. Why did Chris die? Chris died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and the NRA. They talk about gun rights. What about Chris’s right to live? When will this insanity stop? When will enough people say, ‘Stop this madness!’ Too many have died. We should say to ourselves, ‘Not one more!’” ...

Memorial Reflections Dr. E.W. Mince December 27, 2011 There is that well known passage in the Old Testament where the writer speaks of the seasons of life: To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to harvest what is planted; A time to make war, And a time to heal from war; A time to tear down, And a time to build up; A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to celebrate; A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; A time to pull apart, And a time to sew together; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; A time to love, And a time to not love; A time of war, And a time of peace.[1] Dr. Mince understood and accepted the cycles of life. He was a seasonal man. He knew how to transi...