There is an article in the new issue of PEACEBUILDER titled “‘No’ to Cycle of Vengeance Despite Murder of Daughters.” It is the story of the choices that David Works and his family made after two of David and his wife Marie’s daughters were killed and David was shot by a gunman last December outside the church they attend in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is a story of healing and reconciliation.
“I can choose to lose my mind and go down the path of anger and retribution, or I can use the tools I’ve been given and my theology to find something good in this, to break the cycle.”
David and I have been friends since we both participated in the first Coming to the Table gathering in January 2006. His family’s story is both harrowing and hopeful. David and Marie have written a book about their experience–Gone in a Heartbeat: Our Daughters Died . . . Our Faith Endures–which will be published in January.
David and I, along with a dozen others, participated in the Summer Peacebuilding Institute course on Coming to the Table this past summer. I wrote three blog posts about our weeklong course. And though the article in Peacebuilder carries my name as the author, credit goes to Bonnie Price Lofton, the editor/writer for Peacebuilder. It was Bonnie’s idea for the article which combines my writing with her interview of David. I also thank Amy Potter and David for their review and input.
Peacebuilder is published bi-annually by the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. You can read the article here.