Praying for Sandy Hook victims, families, & community
Posted: December 15, 2012 Filed under: Bishop's Blog | Tags: Advent, Prayer, Sandy Hook Elementary School 11 CommentsWe are left speechless and any parent who has ever watched a child walk out the door into the world shudders and thinks, “That could have been my daughter, my son.” The tragedy of this moment rests not just in this moment of crisis but in every moment when loss and grief and death visit us without warning.
In the heart of Advent, we listen to John the Baptist who speaks truth this 3rd Sunday in Advent calling those to repentance, a “brood of vipers.” We feel his anger and pain. We identify with the deep need to stare evil and hatred in the face until it is transformed.
I listen today to Advent and Christmas carols that remind me of the Christ child whose purpose is the redemption of all creation. “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” we will pray in worship on Sunday.
May we bow this day trusting more than we know how that in God’s economy we are not alone; trusting that the One who calls us by name is working to transform evil into good. In and of our own strength we are inadequate to make sense out of this and every tragedy that falls upon innocent lives. So we ask for a measure of strength to lift our drooping hands and strengthen our weak knees that somehow, some way, God will redeem even our lives.
O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.
All of us.
Today.
Greater Things Are Yet To Be Done 
It’s always something that arrives at our doorsteps that
brings us back to realization. If things are going good we possibly
just left a storm, or we are getting ready to enter, or we are in a
storm. Does life play tricks on us fragile human beings? I would
think so! Because our resolve is always being tested, we must do
everything in our might to stay close to Jesus Christ. Thanks for
your post as always I emjoy reading them.
Thank you Bishop! “Lord, can’t say it in words, just listen through my heart”. Praying for all who hurt and all who need our prayers!
Thank you Bishop for penetrating our darkness with light!
Thank you Bishop for your timely expressions which shed light on our shared grief.
Thank you Bishop for these timely thoughts. I will share them with the congregation of Alamo, FUMC tomorrow..
Jerry, Thanks.
Thanks for reminding us that God can bring good out of evil.
Blessings, Jerry.
Thank you, Bishop
Peace, Birgitte.
The only comfort for me is to know that God’s was the first of all our hearts to be breaking. It is because of days like today God knew how much we needed a Savior.
LeNoir