Thoughts on Orlando tragedy
Dear CCC Family,
30 minutes before church started on Sunday, I found out about the shooting in Orlando. I made the decision to not to bring it up in service because I didn’t want to break the news from up front, leaving people who hadn’t heard shocked and confused. Since then, my heart has been heavy about this event as I’m sure yours has as well.
Being a new pastor, I never expected that I would need to speak into circumstances like this so often. I wish this wasn’t the case; I absolutely hate the evil that is behind it all. I believe God hates it too.
It can be difficult to know how to respond, especially when there is not much room to grieve personally or privately in today’s world. There is no shortage of suggestions, opinions, or even accusations of how people should or shouldn’t feel. This is unfortunate because grief is messy and we all need grace in times like these. I have personally found Jesus’ words from church on Sunday to be helpful. “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.”
I wish this “golden” of rules would have stopped the killer that night, but evil prevailed. Now in the aftermath, I wonder if this rule might help us grieve and respond lovingly to one another and to our world, no matter where we find ourselves on the political, social, or religious spectrum. To try and feel what others are feeling, to be gracious to one another in the messiness of it all, and to grieve and ‘mourn with those who mourn’, as if the victims were our own sons and daughters, siblings or friends. I think this might be the most human thing for us to do, and the most Christian as well. Underneath all the noise is the precious loss of human life, lost in the most tragic of ways.
If you are feeling led to respond in a tangible way, there is an opportunity tonight at 7:30pm. On Capitol Hill there will be an Interfaith Prayer Vigil and Procession for the victims (see details below). Join me there if you like. This is one way for us to try and connect with people on a human level and do to others what we would want done for us. There is no doubt the LGBT community is feeling this in a very unique way. Let us offer our solidarity.
May we continue to pray to God who hears our prayers and loves us dearly. May we continue to pray, not just with our own thoughts and wishes, but with the thoughts and wishes of others. And may we always be willing to reach out in the name of Christ, to mourn with those who mourn.
Sincerely,
Pastor Jeff
Interfaith Prayer Vigil and Procession in Solidarity and Hope
Wednesday, June 15, 7:30pm – In light of the recent tragedy in Orlando, the Seattle-area community is invited to join together in lament for the violence while hoping for another way. We will begin at Saint Mark’s Cathedral with a brief prayer service, toll the bell for those who have died, then march in solidarity to St. James Cathedral with candle-lighting and call for peace and an end to gun violence. Religious and civic leaders will participate. All are welcome.