Dear saints,
We will gather at church this Sunday once more in the shadow of a gunman. 21 lives lost, 19 of them elementary school children, dying in their own classroom. I cannot even begin to imagine the terror those children endured and the wrenching pain their families are now feeling. I can imagine what it might feel like to lose my own children, and it is a horrendous thought. You may well have had similar thoughts this week. We should hold our children close these coming days, explain to them that the world is a beautiful place with deep and abiding goodness within it, and that human beings also have the capacity to perform terrible acts. We all should lament, yet we cannot afford to despair. The terrible events at Robb Elementary School are the result of a single gunman's tortured mind, yet they are also the tragic consequences of a relationship we have as a society to guns and violence that we have in our power something to do about. In the coming days there will be opportunities to hold vigil for these children and their teachers who died, and there will be opportunities to join with other faith communities to raise a collective voice for reform in this country. We belong at both. We are needed there. In the meantime, may the God whose love brought all life into being soothe and comfort this wounded nation, and especially all those who are walking now through death's dark valley. We are not alone. Love will prevail.
Peace,
Simon+
