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From the Rector
As I begin to sit with this week’s scripture lessons, I am taken by the image of David mourning over Saul and Johnathon’s death; of Jesus being summoned to a dying girl's bedside. These images speak to me as I’ve recently had to pastor a grieving family who lost their young adult child. I’ve learned from experience as a barber, when a father had to bury their adult child, that the grief is inconsolable; there will remain a deep wound that never fully heals – it simply remains, and they learn to move forward day by day as best they can. I hear David’s lamentation, I hear the parent’s lamentation, I see Jesus in the Garden seeking answers to unanswerable questions only to surrender to the situation as it is. For many Christians, what I am about to share may be very controversial. God does not abandon us in our grief. God is not the architect of our suffering. God does not cast aside those who take their own life. Rather, God is present in the grief, the pain, the suffering. God experiences it with us, enveloping us in love beyond measure and comprehension. I am led to this understanding through the writings of Elie Wiesel, where, in his book “Night” he shares his experiences of Nazi concentration camps and is asked the question: Where is your God? His answer comes in stating that God is there on the gallows, that God is there in the gas chamber. God has not abandoned the people in their trials and tribulations. No, God experiences that pain and thus connects with us in intimate ways. Controversial as it may be for some to hear, I need a God who walks with me in my dark valleys as well as joyful mountain top experiences. I can relate to this God from which I can call God father and mother, brother and sister – the one who cares for me in all that happens to me; not trying to prevent danger or challenges, but with me in whatever may come or is. Lamentations is something none of us can escape as we walk the pilgrim's way in life. I find solace and comfort, however, knowing that God is there with me holding, supporting, loving me into wholeness, whatever that may look like. That wholeness is also something this week’s scripture speaks to, and something I believe we all seek. May God’s grace be with each of you on your own pilgrim’s walk; may God’s blessing enfold each of you as you face the varied challenges of life. For nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Gary+
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