This week there was another
school shooting, and this time it happened very close to home.
Reynolds High School is less than 40 miles from where I am sitting as
I write these words. Following the unfolding news reports, which
include two students dead (one of them being the shooter), a teacher
wounded and an entire community traumatized, I find myself awash with
an awareness of the turmoil in the lives of all those involved in
this latest in an ever-growing list of such incidents. My heart is
heavy and I want to respond by opening my arms and my heart in an
embrace that wraps them with the healing and transforming power of
love. Such a response may seem simplistic to some. At least one
person thinks that I am wearing rose-colored glasses. I know that it
is not a response which everyone will feel led to make. And it is
where my heart is leading me. I don’t have any clear answers. The
solution will be challenging, complex and a long time in coming. A
variety of particular responses will be required, as each person is
led to contribute to the process. And what I know I can do right now
is to send out as much light and love as I can muster - to the family
and friends of the student who was killed, to the students, teachers
and staff of Reynolds High School, to the parents and loved ones of
those directly involved, to the police and other first responders, to
the community of Troutdale, to the greater Portland community, to our
country, to our world, and even (perhaps especially) to the shooter
and his family. Love and light. Love and light. Love and light.
As one of my spiritual
practices I seek to follow a form of the Sufi path, which includes an
awareness that we are all a part of the one sacred reality. Part of
that practice involves being given a new name, which both describes a
part of who I am and offers a vision of what I can more fully become.
The name which was given to me is AmiShanti, which is a derivative of
two Sanskrit words. It means “sweet nectar of peace.” As the news
of this latest tragedy unfolded and I felt myself becoming
overwhelmed by the turmoil of it all, I once again experienced the
gift of my name. I sought to keep myself centered and grounded as I
sent a golden light of sweet peace out into the world. I sought to
hold the space where such peace can take root and grow. To some it
may not seem like much. And it is what I can do in this moment.
Perhaps later I will recognize something else that I can do, but for
now, for me, it is all that I know to do, so it is enough.
I invite each of you to
discover what it is you can do in response. It may not seem like
much, but if you do it faithfully and with heart it will be enough.
Singer/songwriter Carrie Newcomer has this to say in one of her
newest songs, “The shadows of this world will say, ‘There’s
no hope. Why try anyway?’ But every kindness, large or slight,
shifts the balance towards the light.” Together may we put
forth our intentional energy as we join our spirits with the Spirit
of God, that healing and wholeness may be more fully, richly, deeply
manifest in our world.
~ Pastor Roger
(keeping my feet firmly
planted in the flow)
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