“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

Dear Friends:

Once again, our hearts are saddened. Once again we’re praying the prayer to end gun violence wondering if it is a broken record. Once again we turn to God in prayer, that somehow in our world we can love better than we hate. Once again the country is roaring at the hurt and pain. What do we do?

We pray. We’ve heard too much about the needlessness of prayer. But, we’re people of faith and we believe that prayer is a way of responding to God’s call to us as God’s people in the world. This morning in the 7:00 a.m. drive by prayers, we prayed the Litany in the Wake of a Mass Shooting as crafted by The Bishops United Against Gun Violence, the more than eighty Episcopal bishops taking steps to curtail the horrors of gun violence. Sadly, the Litany is now six pages listing forty-three mass shootings since 2012. We painstakingly prayed each petition responding, “Let light perpetual shine upon them.” Somehow, throughout that litany the hope of God’s saving light shined through, encouraging us to also respond to God through action. What do we do?

We write. Many of us have received numerous postings with links inviting us to take action. It makes a difference. Yesterday, as recommended by Sojourners,

I wrote to my representative, Jennifer Wexton (VA10JWima@mail.house.gov). She responded to my concerns before the end of the day! Her efforts to bring some kind of common sense to gun ownership are commendable. But, for me, she reminded me that we can make a difference when she wrote: “I greatly appreciate your writing to me with your concerns on this issue. Democracy works best when citizens make their opinions known.” We’re not being asked to necessarily agree on the many issues surrounding gun violence. Pick one and concentrate on how you can be a change agent on one aspect of the larger concern. We do have a responsibility to make our concerns known. To do nothing is to expect no change. Pray. Write a letter. Take action.

Your vestry is meeting Monday night, August 12th to be about its monthly business. In the meeting we plan to discuss how and what Epiphany can and should do as a collective Christian body living out Jesus’ gospel message to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. Vestry meetings are open and begin at 7:00 p.m. The discussion on gun violence will begin as late as 9:00 p.m. All are invited to attend should you desire. Or, should you have thoughts or concerns you’d like your vestry to know, please, pass them along to me or to Elaine Perry our Senior Warden srwarden@EpiphanyEC.org. We will do our best to address these matters in the meeting.

On Sunday we’ll continue with BREAD and CUP II during 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. worship. The teaching will lend itself more toward a traditional sermon style with an emphasis on thanksgiving. We remember Eucharist means thanksgiving. In Luke’s gospel Jesus reminds us to not be afraid. God gives us the kingdom. We can give thanks for God’s healing, redeeming grace in our lives, especially fed to us through Holy Communion. Thank you for your thoughtful questions from this past Sunday. Hopefully, most questions will be answered throughout the teaching. But, we’ll post answers as well over the next weeks for you to consider. Please, keep the questions coming!

Stay cool good friends. Trust in God’s loving, grace as we continue to travel through pathways of anxiety and want where the light of hope shines.

See you Sunday and we’ll give thanks to God.

Many Blessings,

Hillary