See, I am making all things new. (Revelation 21:5)
TUMBLER RIDGE
For days now we have been flooded with reports, news specials, interviews, commentaries, and reflections in light of the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge on February 10th. Questions are emerging in an attempt to make sense of this tragedy... questions begging for adequate answers that restore our sense of normalcy and safety... yet questions to which there might never be answers. And we don't just hear facts but also wrongful accusations, blaming, inaccurate information, shaming, misleading gossip, and rumors.
However, none of this brings Jennifer, and Emmett, Kylie, Abel, Tiki, and Zoe, Shannda, Ezekiel, and Jesse back to life. Maya is fighting for her life, and 24 others are recovering from their injuries.
In Tumbler Ridge families are shattered, a community is reeling, a province in shock, a country in mourning.
In light of all this the following quote spoke to me: Violence is always the act of an individual. Safety is always the work of everyone. What matters now is simple and concrete: care for the families who lost loved ones, steady support for those carrying trauma from this day and continuing to build communities grounded in dignity instead of fear.
And for us it is a time to come together in prayer... a seemingly weak and feeble thing in the face of such tragedy. And yet, God's power is found in weakness, and prayer is powerful for God hears. Prayer connects us with one another. Prayer connects us with God.
Let us pray:
Our help comes from you, O God, you who made heaven and Earth.
In the midst of grief, you are our comfort.
In the face of uncertainty, you are our rock.
In the wake of tragedy, you are our hope.
As we weep, we place our trust in you.
We pray this in the name of the one who suffered and died
and was raised for us, our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
(adapted from ACS, pg 66)