We have a problem.

We have a problem, Americans.

There is absolutely nothing normal about human beings being murdered in classrooms or in hallways or on sidewalks.

Or in churches.

Or at outdoor concerts.

Or in airports.

Or at dance clubs.

What puzzles me about it all is that we Americans are, by nature, problem-solvers. Solving problems is part of our heritage.

This problem, though -- we can't even seem have a conversation about this problem.

There's a lot of shouting and pandering and name-calling. It's not the guns. It's mental health. It's education. It's poor parenting. We're over-medicated. It's lack of a collective backbone in Congress. It's deregulation. Laws would only punish law-abiding citizens. We have the right, guaranteed by the Second Amendment, to bear arms. More people are killed by (fill in the blank) than by guns. The NRA controls Congress. The NRA is an innocent rights-advocacy group. This could never happen here. This could happen anywhere. It's too soon to talk about solutions. Thoughts and prayers are empty gestures. We can't allow gun rights to erode. We need stronger gun legislation. Look at Chicago -- gun laws have done nothing there. Americans have the right to defend ourselves.

I've hesitated for years to express in public an opinion on the gun violence problem in our country. I don't want to insult my friends who are pro-gun rights, and I don't fully understand every aspect of the issue.

I'm no longer comfortable remaining silent.

I don't know how many more school shootings our collective hearts can bear.

I don't know how many more stories we can read about teachers who shield their students, who are willing to die to protect those babies from bullets sprayed from an assault rifle.

This is a heavy burden to bear, friends. We are responsible because we refuse to collaborate and compromise. We refuse to acknowledge that rights must be placed in priority, that not everyone can "win," but a whole host of people are losing while we do absolutely nothing.

God did not create us to hunt one another down. God did not create us to sit idle, to allow evil in whatever forms it presents itself to rule over our hearts and cloud our judgment.

God created us to live in community. God created us to care for one another.

God created us to love -- to love God and to love one another.

We're doing a really awful job. This is not heaven on earth. This is not even close.

We deserve better. Our children deserve better. We have a problem, but, glory be, we can solve problems. It's way past time that we unite to name this problem and then step by step work toward solving it.