Tonight's Prayer

Reverend Leslie Takahashi Morris, Co-Minister at Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church Unitarian Univeralist in Charlottesville, VA conducted an evening healing service which included a freshman at VCU along with family and a number of others directly affected. She states, "It is hard to hold the space and also to remind our selves of what we have to offer."

To Leslie and others, I am grateful for all my colleagues that have reached out to comfort those in distress and to just stand vigil in this time of great need.
Blessed Be

Reverend Leslie Takahashi Morris'Prayer:
Spirit of life, be with us today as we seek to grapple with questions that have no answer. Be with us as we struggle to comprehend a tragedy that is beyond comprehension, to seek reason in what is by its very nature unreasonable. We do not understand why random lives, full of promise should be ended or why such destructive rage should be given this expression.

Spirit of love, we come to you this evening as people who care -as students, as parents, as fellow teachers, as seekers of knowledge, as those who have experiencd our own losses which are relived through the great common cry of this loss.We come together as those who would affirm the promse of humanity and don't know how to do it in the face of these shocking,wrenching events.

Spirit of hope let us be reminded that while some questions have no answers, while some individual acts fly in the face of humanity's promise, we need one another and the act of holding our questions together is an act of hope. Let us never forget that these tragic acts grow out of the destructive power of loneliness and isolation. Let our witnessing these events renew our commitment our common endeavor--to build a world with more peace, less violence and more hope for all.
So may it be.