Communal Tragedy

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As individuals, we all know pain and loss. It is the rare person who escapes sorrow. But when one of us hurts, others are there to offer comfort. Communal tragedy is different. When something bad happens to us as a community—whether that is a school, a town, a people, or a country—we struggle to figure out how to tend to our own wounds while taking care of each other. Drawing on compassion, empathy, justice, and love, we can bring out the best in each other, and perhaps, find a theology of hope in the midst of despair.

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“I take it off when I get to the parking lot / and hide my Star of David, / cover my Hebrew tattoo…”
“Engage with those who believe in the blessings of Love and Life…”
“I invited those who won’t speak up for me now…”
“I’m teaching to prepare you. / But for what exactly? / To hide, to fight, to run away or die?”
“One day, / The court of the captives will convene / before the halls of power…”
“What I need, right now, / is to not feel…”
“I cannot be soothed / because there are / no moral answers…”
“When the dark comes, let it. In its own way, it offers us balm.”
“I am thirsty to return to the peace of our peoplehood…”
“reaching toward me, / as alive and animated / as my own unimaginable heart–”

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