Silence

In the face of incomprehensible and irrational evil...when confronted with the immense brokenness of humanity...being touched by the destructive separation of sin - the only adequate response is silence.

I don't exactly know what to say...maybe that's as it should be. We've all been touched in some way by the tragic and senseless loss visited upon the Virginia Tech campus this week. I hesitate to even write anything on this topic, but it is difficult to think of anything else during these days. How do we respond?

In the midst of suffering our response must be the response of the Crucified God...our response is compassion. Due to the influence of Henri Nouwen, many now understand that compassion is more than simply sympathy - but it goes beyond sympathy to solidarity. It literally means to "suffer with." So we, like God in Christ, enter into the suffering of the 'other' giving the gift of presence to them. In times like this a steadfast and silent solidarity has a healing power beyond understanding.

How do I express genuine compassion to people hundreds of miles away? This is the tension that we experience in a globalized world - we simply cannot always give the gift of presence. The great benefit of the Body of Christ is that it extends far beyond ourselves. We trust that the same spirit of compassion is at work among the believers around Virginia Tech - that Christ is present through them by the Spirit. We maintain that unity and solidarity through prayer as we intercede for them and respond to the deep pain in any way that we are able.

So we pray: Almighty Father, whose blessed Son before his death prayed for his disciples that they might be one, as you and he are one: Grant that your Church, being bound together in love and obedience to you, may be united in one body by the one Spirit, that the world may believe in him whom you have sent and may experience the gift of your presence; we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.