April 24
Dear friends,
Once again, people have been attacked in their places of worship, those places of uttermost vulnerability where we connect to ultimate sources of love, acceptance, comfort, affirmation, and struggles to be fully and openly human in history and in the vast universe. Once again, fear about personal safety and security rise high in the minds of those most intimately connected to terroristic violence. The Sri Lankans this week, and who next? They fear for their own lives and for the lives of their loved ones. They fear for their nations and beloved homelands.

And fear is contagious. Whether in awareness of this attack—or that in Pittsburgh or in Christchurch or in Louisiana—we become affected with insecurity and tension as well. We are all living at a fever pitch of distress and anguish. Let not the pain and sorrow draw us away from our siblings; let it not draw us away from each other. May the small buds erupting on tree limbs, may the fragile nests of mating birds, may the small flowers struggling out of the soil, may the bright sunshine and blue skies offer us the solace of renewal and connection. May these bring joy to feed our spirits in the midst of worry and suffering. May these and our loving hearts hold us to each other, together better able to bear the stings of living. May our compassion and our care light a lamp to burn bright against the divisiveness of hatred and its violence.

I’m away from the Fellowship April 26-29 for a visit to Buffalo, but you will remain in my thoughts and in my heart, as you remember, today and every day, you are loved, you are worthy, you are welcome, and you are needed. May you feel it so.

Blessings, Rev. Rita