Feb. 13, 2008 — On Thursday Feb. 12, hundreds of people filled the St. Thomas Reformed Church to overflowing to say goodbye to Jack Diehl. Diehl was shot and killed Sunday, Feb. 8, while looking into some suspicious activity in his neighborhood.
Each of the family members, from his brothers to his wife and two sons who found the courage to speak about Jack, emphasized his commitment to creating a peaceful world.
Watching a family clearly facing overwhelming grief and unimaginable sorrow rise to call for love instead of rage, peace in place of revenge was unforgettably touching.
His brother Richard moved past his personal feelings to talk instead about violence in our society and its impact.
Here are his remarks, our tribute to Jack Diehl and his family:
Remarks of Richard J. Diehl
Jack Diehl’s Memorial Service
St. Thomas Dutch Reformed Church
February 12, 2009
This is a time of sorrow. A time of loss.
It can also be a time to learn. A time to think. It is fitting today to talk about violence in our community, in our nation and in our world.
Violence is mindless and tears at the fabric of our soul.
The guns. The senseless violence. The shame. The shame of a society that glorifies death and violence. Mothers and fathers who love their precious babies and promised to keep them safe…..the battered wife…. the beaten children broken in spirit.
Inhuman prisons bursting with perpetrators of domestic violence. Anger and rage fueled by alcohol and drugs. A society that needs to anesthetize itself to ease the pain it creates.
Daughters in Aruba who die brown or black. Unnoticed by CNN.
Human beings who were loved and needed.
What does violence create? What does it achieve?
Generations broken beyond repair by senseless violence we call War. And what is accomplished? The promise of a world "safe for democracy" that is neither safe nor democratic.
Whenever the life of any human being is taken in the name of the law or in defiance of the law, by one man or two men, in cold blood or in passion, in an attack of violence or in response to violence …we tear at the fabric of the life which another man has built.
We destroy a life which has been painfully and clumsily woven together for himself and his wife and his children. And when that occurs the entire society is debased and degraded. And it goes on and on and on….
As a nation we ignore a level of violence unprecedented in the history of human civilization. We calmly accept news accounts of slaughter in far off lands. We glorify killing in movies and in video games and we call it entertainment. We are complicit in using violence as anesthesia to ease our own pain and boredom as long as it does not touch us, foolishly believing it does not change us.
We make it easy for people of all shades of sanity to acquire any weapons or ammunition they choose. We delude ourselves that the founding fathers created the second amendment to guarantee the right of any lunatic with a driver’s license and a few dollars to be armed and dangerous.
Too often we honor violence and bluster and force and glorify those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered dreams of others. Our children learn to play violent video games and we do nothing. Children who do not know Ghandi or Dr. King or the simplicity and beauty of the Sermon on the Mount….
And because God does not give us the capacity to make any sense out of this violence we look for revenge or scapegoats or recrimination or blame or anger. But the angels of our better nature know that violence only breeds violence and only love and understanding can free us all from this terrible sickness in our soul.
Violence breaks the human spirit. We learn to treat our brothers as less than human. We learn to share a common fear. We learn to subjugate and master. We learn to hate. Hate can not exist without fear.
There is no answer. But the question is whether we can find in our own hearts a decency and compassion and the wisdom and courage to understand the truths of our terrible existence.
Jack’s short life can not be ennobled or enriched by hatred or revenge.
Jack was pure in heart. He was complete. He was kind. He was generous. He was merciful. He was loved. He was a husband and a father to his "boys." He was a son and a brother. He was my best friend.
He was blessed. And in the end maybe he did inherit the kingdom of God. And if there is a heaven I believe Jack is enjoying an endless conversation that will last through eternity. No one is allowed to interrupt or get a word in edgewise and no one is allowed to leave the room.

Back Talk

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