My friends, as I read and watch the news and reflect on the past weeks events, I see our church in turmoil, families from Japan grieving about the loved ones theyll never see again despite the guilty verdict our legal system gave their murderer, and the heart-breaking reality of a baby boy named Tyler who died in what police say appears to be the most unfortunate of accidents. Ive seen a lot of the discussion. Its always good to have different perspectives and to share different opinions. It helps everyone to arrive at the truth. It helps some people to cope with the shock of whats happened. But the key to whether those differences are valuable is to know whether what we are saying to each other is helpful or hurtful; whether it is meant to build us up or to tear us down. I pray for peace and resolution in our church. I pray in solidarity with the families of the victims and the survivors of the murderous rage of that young man who I hope will never be allowed back into society. And perhaps we should deny him the one thing he has seemed to enjoy all this time: notoriety and attention, by remanding his name to a forgotten place while remembering always the names of our guests who died here: Kazuko Uehara, her granddaughter Rie Sugiyama, and Hitoshi Yokota. I pray for the murderers family, who have gone through this nightmare as well. I pray for Tyler and for all his family going through this heartbreaking period that will torment them for the rest of their lives. Christine and I have taught our kids that when bad things happen, weve got to find the path thats hard to see that lifts us up and doesnt keep us down. That path always is lined with prayer. It is best taken with others, together, in solidarity. It is an uphill climb, that requires us to help each other up and not stay stuck along the slope. So, my friends, join me in prayer along this path. Lets help each other up. Weve done it many times before, together.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 17:31:09 +0000
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