Friends,
Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Christchurch, New Zealand, with the families and friends and kin of the forty-nine people who were killed while worshipping God together. Each of those people are someone's child, someone's spouse, someone's parent, each a child of God.
Sometimes we feel helpless in situations such as these, we see suffering and we don't know how to help or how to stop it. Sometimes we see suffering and we spring into action by working harder than ever on campaigns and fundraisers, on ways to ease the suffering. No matter what you do, this suffering in the world is trying, it can be overwhelming, and even exhausting.
But light can be found even in the darkest places, and that light lives in each of us! One of the ways we can respond is through prayer, through telling God our sadness, our anger, our brokenness. We also turn to each other, and we grieve together as we know we are not alone. Beyond the prayers and grief, we can donate, we call on our friends who are Muslim and send messages of love and support. There are many tangible things we can do in this time.
One of Agape's greatest strengths is its diversity. While we have roots in the Christian tradition, we honor the life-giving and soul nuturing authenticity of all faith traditions. In light of the events in New Zealand, we are called to recommit ourseves to this interfaith work that recognizes all efforts to seek divine love among us. For it is this divine love, which is of God, from God--that is more powerful than hate. We know that love will win in the end. We know that nothing can separate us from that Love.
May it be so.
-Dawn
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