We Are One
October has always seemed like the beginning of the holidays, with children running around the neighborhood looking for a treat or offering a trick. This October has begun not with the laughter of children, but rather the cries of so many people.
As I write this, the news is now filled with the horror of another mass shooting. This time in Las Vegas. This time it was aimed at people innocently gathered to listen to music, happy to be there and uplifted in spirit because they were there together.
Like so many people, my heart breaks with the deaths and injury accounts I hear. My heart yearns to know, what is happening to us and to our country? Isn’t it bad enough that hurricanes have leveled homes, displaced people and stranded the animals we once called pets? And, my heart asks, what motivates someone to open fire on a crowd when there is so much pain and suffering already in our land?
There are no answers to my questions. But raise and sit with them, we must.
This past month, I have listened to stories of people going above and beyond racial barriers as they rescued people stranded by floods. I have listened to a mayor in Puerto Rico pleading for assistance for the people who have been without electricity, food or water for two weeks. I have also laughed with joy when told of a woman who gathered $4000 and gave it to anyone who needed money to fix their homes. She gave of her resources and ended up receiving pictures of the wood a man purchased to fix his porch thanks to her generosity and a family that could repair their roof because of the money. And, the stories of kindness, speaking out for those in need, and generosity go on.
Even in the face of all that has happened, I believe in people. We grieve together. We can cry together, work together, and pray together too because under it all we know we have all been created by the Source of all creation. We are one!
Please join us as we pray for the courage and support the victims of violence and their families need. Let us hold the hope (when they can’t) for the future of those who have lost loved ones or had their lives irrevocably changed by violence. In time, with love and caring from their communities, we pray they can reclaim their lives.
