Remembering 400,000 American Deaths

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 Tuesday, January 19th at 3:30pm in Church Parking Lot

A memorial and lighting of the Reflecting Pool will take place on the National Mall in Washington D.C. on Tuesday. Churches across the country are invited to ring their church bells and spend time in prayer and remembrance of the 400,000 Americans who have lost their lives to COVID-19.  Our gathering will take place at the same time as the remembrance in Washington D.C.  If you're unable to join us in the Parking Lot, please take a few moments at home to pray for all the families who are grieving in our nation.

Walter Brueggeman, a well-known Christian theologian and writer, says this about who we are called to be as the Church in this time:
     "The prophetic tasks of the church are to tell the truth in a society that lives in illusion, grieve in a society that practices denial, and express hope in a society that lives in despair."

All of these spiritual tasks are incredibly important--especially given the unrest and untruths circulating in our country and our community.  It's sometimes overwhelming to think of how we as people of faith can make a difference.  But these things that Brueggeman lifts up--these are things we can do--in our daily lives--even in our own thinking and processing events around us.  We stand up and do these things in our individual lives and in our community.

We speak the truth--even when it is unpopular or vociferously opposed.  We allow ourselves to grieve and provide opportunities for people to grieve together--even when some of our leaders want to ignore the incredibly painful losses we are enduring as Americans. We must first grieve in order to turn to hope. And in the midst of it all, we claim and express hope--first reminding ourselves that we follow the Lord of Resurrection.  When we trust wholeheartedly Christ's promise of transformation, then we embrace hope and we both work and wait patiently for the good that will come from these difficult circumstances.  Because good always does come!  We just need to open our hearts, minds and eyes to see and celebrate the good wherever we find it.

God promises that "weeping may remain for the night, but joy always comes with the morning."  (Psalm 30:5)  Let's embrace and embody this promise.

Peace and all good,
Pastor Jean

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