Our lives are not insignifigant.What prayer can we say when an unimaginable tragedy comes to those who are close to our community, wreaking havoc, claiming lives? We can pray for comfort, peace for those greiving. We can remember their lives. We can beg God for harmony.
I invite you to offer your prayers here..
Rev. Faith Lewis
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Our prayer is one of remembrance for those who have died…
We remember that those who perished were brothers, sisters, sons and daughters, parents, friends. Each of them more valuable than sparrows; each a person of sacred worth created in the image of God.
Our prayer is also one of comfort for those who remain…
We remember that those who stand, numb and afraid, whose lives are now broken, who are grieving, who are afraid, for they, too, are brothers, sisters, sons and daughters, parents, friends. Each of them is more valuable than the sparrow, each is a person of sacred worth, created in the image of God, in need of God’s hand to hold and comfort them…
Loving God, we pause to remember all who perished today in this tragedy — lives taken so unexpectedly, and so unfairly, those who will be named and mourned and missed. With neighbors and friends, families and loved ones, we find comfort in the knowledge that you gave them life and loved them, that you know each of them by name.
We pause also to remember all those who lives have been forever changed by the events of this day, those who now have a void they feel will never be filled, who have had all sense of safety and security taken from them, who understand, without choosing to, how utterly unpredictable and fleeting life can be. Pour out your grace and mercy upon those who are hoping to wake up from a terrible dream, that they gain strength from those that surround them in love and support, that they find solace in knowing that you love and care for those who have been taken, that they find a sure path in the journey of grief that is ahead.
Lord, have mercy upon this earth, upon the community at Blacksburg, and upon all who mourn. Amen.
Dear God, be with families and friends who grieve. Be with students as they travel home now to be with those who love them for the rest of this week. O God, help us figure out violence, estrangement and isolation, anger without check, and the dependency on guns within our culture. In the name of the One who heals, redeems, and renames us as agents of peace. Amen.
I Am There
Do you need Me?
I am there.
You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you see by.
You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.
You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.
I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.
I am at work, though you do not recognize My works.
I am not strange visions. I am not mysteries.
Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me as I am, and then but as a feeling and a faith.
Yet I am there. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.
When you need Me, I am there.
Even if you deny Me, I am there.
Even when you feel most alone, I am there.
Even in your fears, I am there.
Even in your pain, I am there.
I am there when you pray and when you do not pray.
I am in you, and you are in Me.
Only in your mind can you feel separate from Me, for only in your mind are the mists of “yours” and “mine.”
Yet only with your mind can you know Me and experience Me.
Empty your heart of empty fears.
When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.
You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all.
And I am in all.
Though you may not see the good, good is there, for I am there.
I am there because I have to be, because I am.
Only in Me does the world have meaning; only out of Me does the world take form; only because of Me does the world go forward.
I am the law on which the movement of the stars and the growth of living cells are founded.
I am the love that is the law’s fulfilling. I am assurance. I am peace. I am oneness. I am the law that you can live by. I am the love that you can cling to. I am your assurance. I am your peace. I am one with you. I am.
Though you fail to find Me, I do not fail you.
Though your faith in Me is unsure, My faith in you never wavers, because I know you, because I love you.
Beloved, I am there.
—James Dillet Freeman
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