A Prayer I offered at church on the Sunday following the tragedy in Connecticut

This morning, we stand in a place of mixed emotions. We are met with conflicting thoughts. On the one hand, we are in the season of waiting….of anticipating….of the hope of new life……of the joyful expectancy of the birth of the Light of the World in our midst. At the same time, we are in a place of mourning and sadness…….of frustration and anger particularly over the tragedy in Connecticut on Friday…….we have questions……we are heartbroken……we express our grief and anger and sadness. So we acknowledge first and foremost this morning our confliction. We acknowledge our questions. We acknowledge that the joy of the season is tempered with our sadness and incomprehension of a world still filled with violence. So first and foremost, we pray for all those affected by the shooting in Newtown, CT. We pray for the parents and families……for those who survived…..for all the caregivers who are there to love and surround and cry with those in deep grief and loss. We pray for all of them and offer a moment of silence.

 We are reminded in the words of Scripture that You are near to the brokenhearted and You bind up their wounds. We are reminded on this 3rd Sunday of Advent – to live in joy. And while for some of us – probably for many of us in this time – that joyfulness seems removed. Impossible. We are also reminded in the Scriptures that You know us through and through – including our inability maybe to be joyful in this time. So we acknowledge that reality without guilt or worry. However, no matter where we are in life, no matter what emotions we feel, or where we are on our path this Sunday morning, we ALL are called to trust. To trust in your promises. To trust that our God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. To cling to the promise that we are not left alone, but the Spirit of Life is here with us – not to give pat answers. Or maybe any answers for that matter. But to be with us as we journey along. In the good and bad. The joyful and the sad. So we lift our hearts and open our entire selves to that trust. We bank our lives on the truth that You will never leave us. We remember the promise that weeping may endure for a night, but joy will come some how, some way, eventually in the morning.

So we trust. We trust You in full assurance knowing that in the midst of it all and at the end of it all, our lives are in your hand.