Communal Tragedy

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.

Latest Rituals

“What stories will we tell this infant / war, what songs sing to it?”
“May love flow from our broken hearts, and may their yearning return us to our humanity.”
“We reach to touch souls as luminous as mirrors / so we might reflect light back to each other.”
“I do not live in Israel but I have / tasted all her fruits…”
“Reasons mean nothing in the harsh light of consequence / Reasons are but shadows of war”
“Maybe you don’t know about my / passion for justice and integrity.”
“and so I stumble / through my workday, / weeping in between meetings…”
“May we not be afraid / To act big and save the world.”
“I pray for peace in every heart / In every living thing”
“I cradled your / black-inked letters, letters overflowing with infinity…”

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