As gun violence claims more lives every day in the United States, helplessness remains my primary emotion. Heartbreak comes in at a close second.
As I geared up to attend my first convocation of the academic year, I had not anticipated the impact speaker Whitney Austin would have on my peers and me. Austin is the founder of Whitney/Strong, an organization dedicated to ending gun violence through bipartisan legislation, educational training, and fundraising. A survivor of the 2018 Cincinnati Fifth Third Bank shooting, Austin was convicted to tackle the issue head-on.
Over the past six years, she and her team have delivered countless educational workshops—free to communities in low-income Louisville neighborhoods. These have increased the safe storage of weapons, elevated suicide awareness, and prevented tragedies. Her work has contributed to important research, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, and lobbied for the passage of bipartisan legislation.
Austin’s work brought her to Centre College, where she shared jarring statistics, particularly pertaining to Kentucky, the state I lovingly call home. As she spoke, the all-too-familiar feeling of powerlessness crept in. After her presentation, I asked her, “How do you avoid becoming discouraged?” Her response surprised me: “I don’t.”
Austin shared that on the hard days, she reminds herself why she does what she does. There are days, she admitted, when she simply cannot bear to face the grim realities of gun violence.
On those days, she redirects her attention to her own well-being and asks others to join in the fight. She puts her computer or microphone down, bows her head, and passes the work on to another until she is ready to pick herself back up and carry on.
As I pondered her response, I was reminded of my favorite verse from Acts, when Paul proclaims, “I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24, NIV).
We are all called to carry out the tasks the Lord has given us. If we have the same dedication Whitney Austin and her team have in ending gun violence, I believe we will finish the race. If we have the same dedication Jesus showed in going to the cross, then we will finish the race.
Whatever calling God has placed on your heart, chase it relentlessly. Whether it is addressing the gun violence epidemic, advocating for marginalized groups, building homes and feeding those in need, or lending a listening ear to the hurting—finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given you.
Being discouraged is easy and valid, particularly when we have become desensitized to the violence. It hurts to know that the leading cause of death in children and teenagers is firearms. And yet, this is exactly why we must continue.
Some days, as Austin reminded me, we are forced to pause, grieve, and raise our voices to God—sometimes in faith, sometimes in desperation, and sometimes in outrage. On those days, we pass the work on to another.
And then, we pick ourselves back up. We take action however we are able.
We attend and provide educational workshops on suicide prevention, firearm safety in the home, and data from our states so we are prepared to engage others in conversation. We meet with and write to our lawmakers, urging them to help put an end to senseless gun deaths.
We advocate for policies like CARR, Whitney/Strong’s primary legislative focus, which would allow the court to temporarily transfer firearm ownership to a trusted individual when threats of harm to self or others are made.
We take action because we remember that we are commanded to finish the race.
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
Luke Emerson is a junior at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky studying business and education. He is excited to serve as Good Faith Media’s fall 2025 intern.
