For the past few days, I have struggled through tears and sat in horror viewing the images of the evil chemical attack in Syria. There are no words, no political rhetoric, no shaking our collective heads that can fully grasp the brutality and inhumanity. We can only turn to Jesus Christ, and rest assured in his words.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." John 14:27
Jesus Christ reconciled all the earth to a loving God. In these troubling times, I ask that as a Diocese, we pray together over the next three days. We pray for the suffering of Syria, the children and families who have experienced this evil. We pray for the United States. We pray for the all the people of the world and that we find peace as beloved children of life-giving God. Let us remember that we follow Him, and now "we" must change the world through His life, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
