Message on todays tragedy in Brooklyn Beloved in Christ Jesus: After several hours of being disconnected from news reports today I just sat down (8:00 PM EST December 20, 2014) to catch up. I am tuned in to what you may have been following for several hours, the focus of which is Brooklyn. I am heartsick and crestfallen yet again the vicious cycle of violence holds sway. More lives lost. In the line of duty, in domestic violence, through suicide. There will be more empty chairs at meal tables this week. There are more parents childless, more children without parents, more spouses widowed, more colleagues with an empty seat next to them. The depth and extent of relationships affected and changed cannot all be enumerated here. I join you in shock, grief, pain and sympathy. As you gather in worship this weekend in the closing days of Advent continue to: Pray Build relationships Reach across divides Believe the Gospel It is on this last point I want to sit just a bit. I continue to be convinced, converted and comforted that the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ was and is an intervention intended to break the cycles of rage, alienation and violence wherever they show up in human experience. I continue to believe in and seek to surrender to the peace-dealing, life-giving ways of Jesus, Son of God. I am persuaded that God wants to use you and me in God’s ongoing work (and it is hard work I assure you) that will bring about New Creation. Any news story from any given day might discourage us enough to throw up our hands, walk away and cry out “what’s the use, it’s impossible”. But the Gospel reading for this weekend (Luke 1:26-38) testifies to the contrary. In the face of Mary’s understandable incredulity about what the angel was saying to her, the angel Gabriel declares “For nothing will be impossible with God”. Your servant in Christ, +Gregory Vaughn Palmer Resident Bishop, Ohio West Area westohioumc.org/conference/blog/message-todays-tragedy-brooklyn
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 18:37:21 +0000