In My Lifetime

"Revive Us Again" Pentecost May 19, 2013

Readings and reflection from Sunshine Cathedral in Second Life on Pentecost Sunday, May 19, 2013.  Visit us in Second Life, (http://www.secondlife.com) and search for Sunshine Cathedral.

 

Call to Worship

from UCC.org

One:   Come!  Let us be the wind that blows the announcement of the Good News.

All:      Let us move to gather the people together in praise!

One:   Come! Let us be the flame that signals the Spirit’s presence in this place.

All:      Let us ignite rejoicing among the old and the young,

our sons and our daughters!

One:   Look!  Even as we remain distinct, we are made one in Christ!

All:      Come!  Let us worship God!

 

Move among us, Spirit, and gather us together with you.

Take our many selves – our lives, our loves, our ideas, our questions, our speech, our silence – and unite us as your people.

Give us the gifts of perception and understanding, so that even as we dream your dreams and see your visions, we may be able to witness to your presence in our common life.

The Lessons

Romans 8.14-16

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Mother! Father!” It is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

Odes of Solomon, Ode 6

As the wind moves through the harp and the strings speak, so the spirit of the Lord speaks through [me] and I speak though divine Love. Our spirits praise the holy Spirit; for there went forth a stream, and it became a river great and broad. Indeed…it spread over the surface of the earth, and it filled everything. Then all the thirsty upon the earth drank, and thirst was relieved and quenched. From the Most High the drink was given…Alleluia! 

Acts 2.1-4

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

The Gospel

John 14.11-12, 14-17

Believe me that I am in Eternity and Eternity is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I Am dwelling in Eternity. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask for you to be given another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the spirit of Truth…You know the spirit of Truth, because it abides with you, and it will remain in you.

 

Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher

"Revive Us Again"

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Revive Us Again

 

 

Welcome to the birthday of the church. This is Pentecost Sunday, the day that the church celebrates it’s beginning from the reading in Acts that we heard today when the spirit came through the assembled people with a sound like a rushing wind and the Good News began to be told and understood in multiple languages and tongues of fire were seen on each of them there. 

So what in the world can this possibly mean?  Well I’m not sure I believe that tongues of flame danced on each person’s head. I’m not sure I can get with the idea that folk just suddenly started speaking languages they didn’t previously know how to speak.  But surely something magnificent did happen, something so important that today is still celebrated as the beginning of the Christian church.

In our first reading this morning from Romans I can’t help but think of my favorite television program Downton Abbey. At Downton everyone is treated with respect and even the servants are loved and highly valued. But the family is the family and there’s a clear demarcation between who is family and who is servant. Our reading from Romans today is set in a similar context, a time when servants were very much a part of the culture. Clearly the reference to adoption into a family is drawing a clear distinction between viewing ourselves as an outsider or viewing ourselves as a full member of the family.

The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that this passage refers to both Jew and Greek making it a very broad inclusive text indeed. Whereas Jews were set apart as God’s own by circumcision, the distinction being made here is that everyone is a part of the family of God. Paul’s letter to the Romans was intended to open up the family to everyone. But instead, some who call themselves Christian have made believing certain man made so-called Christian doctrines the litmus test for membership in the family. These include requiring baptism, demanding a person profess Jesus as one’s savior, adhering to beliefs that say LGBT people are outside the family, believing in the virgin birth, and on and on…

The evidence that is given here that we are part of the family is that the Spirit cries out within us saying, “Abba!” This reference to a familiar term for parent places us as children of God. What fascinates me most about this passage is the reference to falling “back into fear.” There is a difference being made here between slaves who must fear the master or children who no longer need to fear the parent because they know they are loved no matter what.

Our second reading from the Odes of Solomon is so beautiful. I imagined a harp sitting in field, hearing the wind blow through the strings making the music of God herself. The image has stayed with me since I read this passage. It reminds me of the gentle tones of wind chimes as the summer breezes move them.

I began to think of Prayer of St. Francis. Surely these words were inspired by the Spirit working within him… “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,” This passage is so beautiful it made me want to be the instrument that plays the music of God’s love in the world.

The image of a river that is great and broad enough to give everyone drink to quench their thirst connects us with the time and place where this was written… a place where water was scarce and so necessary for life itself. It’s easy, I think, for us to overlook passages like this when all we need to do to quench our thirst is go to the tap and turn on the water.  This passage made me grateful for water and grateful that God’s source of thirst quenching water is more constant than the tap at my sink.

As we said before, it’s Pentecost so we have the reading from Acts that describes a violent wind and the tongues of fire that rested upon them. And then of course everyone began to speak and hear in their own languages putting back together what had been torn apart at the Tower of Babel.  When I read this passage this time I thought of the rushing wind of change that happened during the Arab Spring that now seems so long ago. A crowd sounds a lot like a rushing wind sometimes. The winds of change are always driven by people who gather together to celebrate their commonality and work for justice.

I began to think of the fire that is stirred up when we are able to speak truth to power in our work for justice. I had never considered that what we say can become like fire either destroying if used in ways that are not loving, or cleansing and clearing when we speak the truth in love. Maybe the tongues of fire were describing the fire of the spirit that spread through the crowd giving them the courage to speak justice, the power to speak the truth of God’s love for everyone.

And then of course we have our gospel reading from John that reminds us that we are not relegated to the sidelines to watch Jesus perform miracles.  If we believe in ourselves, believe that we are part of God’s family, and use our gifts to work for justice and speak out when we are prompted by the Spirit, we too can participate in miracles.

I recall that Jesus could not perform miracles without the faith of those who asked for the sign. Maybe its our job to help others find their own assurance that they are children of God, beloved and cherished.  Then they will know that the Advocate, the spirit of Truth, abides with them as well and is not the property of those who would exclude them.

This realization could change everything.  If Eternity was in Jesus, Eternity is in us also. And when we believe this simple fact, we can do even greater works than are attributed to Jesus. This is what it means to fully come to know who we are and how much we are loved.

What we need in the church today is a good old-fashioned revival. We need to get excited about the Good News of God’s love for us, excited enough to tell somebody, excited enough to tell the powers of the world that they’re wrong about money, and fame and status being the measure of success. It’s time we opened ourselves to the Holy Spirit moving in us. It’s time to stop worrying about being cool and just let ourselves be caught up in the spirit of God. 

Come Holy Spirit. Refresh us, renew us, revive us again.

Amen.

"In the Cloud" Ascension May 12, 2013

Readings and reflection from Sunshine Cathedral in Second Life on Ascension Sunday, May 5, 2013.  Visit us in Second Life, (http://www.secondlife.com) and search for Sunshine Cathedral.

The Wisdom of Nona Brooks
In the parable [of the Prodigal Son, the parent] left the son to his own choice. The psychological process in us is this – through study and prayer we learn to accept the Omnipresence of God…We begin to see that we belong in Omnipresence, and that our Source is God. We long for Home, for the realization of God’s presence. We see that we have made the mistake of believing in separation from God and [divine] goodness. We say’, ‘I will arise and go my [Parent]. The journey begins…we lift our vision again and again until every thought is true to God’s presence. Faith in God supplants all fear. Helpful and loving reactions banish the tendency to criticize. The certainty of supply takes precedence over a belief in lack. Confidence in our ability…becomes our abiding realization.

Acts 1.8-9
[Jesus said], ‘You will receive power when the holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

Luke 24.50-51
Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.

Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher

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In the Cloud

 

"Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled" Easter VI May 5, 2013

Readings and reflection from Sunshine Cathedral in Second Life on the Sixth  Sunday of Easter Sunday, May 5, 2013.  Visit us in Second Life, (http://www.secondlife.com) and search for Sunshine Cathedral.

 

Call to Worship

Based on Psalm 139

One:   Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,

All:      even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast. 

One:   I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

All:      How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!

You see deep into our hearts, O LORD, and you know everything about us. You know when we are working or resting, when we come and when we go. No matter where we are, we are never out of your sight. It was you who created us, who formed us inside our mothers’ womb. We praise you for the gift of life, and for the miracle of our bodies.

Look deep into our hearts, O God. Search out our hidden thoughts and motives. Keep us from actions that will bring harm to ourselves or to others, and guide us in the ways that lead to life.

All: Amen

The Lessons 

The Wisdom of Martha Dawson

Today is the day to shed worry of every sort. If I am concerned about my health, if my finances need strengthening, if a loved one is facing unpleasant circumstances, if difficult decisions are before me, I turn to my [God] and release these concerns into [God’s] hands. I know [God] loves me and pours out [divine] peace, causing any problems to melt…I feel…peace beyond understanding taking charge in my life.

The Wisdom of Elsie MacKay

Jesus recognized one Presence, with him, with you and me – the Spirit of all good. He said, ‘I will pray…and [God] shall give you another comforter…the spirit of Truth.’ He was talking about the Essence of life, the very Substance of your body temple as well as your soul, the changeless, eternal Christ Spirit.

The Gospel

John 14.26-27

The Advocate, the holy Spirit, whom the Eternal will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher

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Let Not Your Hearts be Troubled

 

"Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled"

Our readings today have one central theme… peace. The beautiful words of our gospel lesson have Jesus saying to us “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” As our second reading says the Comforter that is here with us, the Christ Spirit, reminds us that we are all connected to each other and to God. When we feel troubled and disconnected it is only an illusion.

This week I received a call from a close friend. She shared with me that her nephew had died from a gunshot wound. She was stunned and crippled with grief. God’s peace seems very far from her and her family at this time. And the truth is that it is at these terrible times that we need the connection most.  The way we reach that peace even when the world seems to be crumbling around us is to reach out to each other and to be there for each other. Our willingness to share our vulnerability, our pain, our grief, our shame, our guilt… it is the sharing that reconnects us to each other and to God.

When we are troubled or afraid what we need is peace, the peace that the risen Christ said is left for us. The Hebrew word for peace is shalom.  But the word Shalom has a deeper and broader meaning than the English word peace. My colleague Rev. DeWayne Davis says, “[S]halom [is] a far more encompassing notion of wholeness and wellbeing than our contemporary notion of peace allows, which conceives of peace as simply the mere absence of conflict or the experience of individual internal tranquility.  These notions of peace are specific dimensions of a larger, all encompassing covenant reality that comes from the Divine.”

Shalom is also one of the names of God herself. It is a greeting, a goodbye, an idea, a concept, a feeling. Shalom is limited only by our imagination of what God has in store for us. Often what keeps our imagination in check is shame.  And shame is fueled by fear.  We sometimes use our imagination to build up the fear of what is to come. A very wise mentor of mine taught me that that very few things in life live up to the fear we build up in our minds about it. The 20^th century French philosopher Andre Gide says, “There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them.” 

And often shame robs us of our vulnerability. We pull back, separate from others, try to avoid the feelings we have inside us. While it is true that it is sometime difficult to deal with feelings the well up in us, when we share our feelings with a trusted friend we reconnect with ourselves, with each other, and with God. And when we reconnect we can access the peace of Christ, the shalom of God.

Our first reading from Martha Dawson encourages us to “shed worry of every sort…” and “know that God loves [us] and pours out [divine] peace, causing any problems to melt.” The shalom of God is always available to us if we are willing to let go of our need to withhold our feelings and remain disconnected.

Now just as my friend is experiencing real pain and grief this week we will experience loss and pain in our lives. This really is just part of living. But if we are able to share our burdens and our pain with each other we can begin to reconnect with the shalom of God.

This is part of what we do each week here together. We gather, we listen to the sacred readings, we use the music to rest and reflect on our lives and the relationships we enjoy with those we love. And then we do the most sacred thing of all we share our prayers with each other. We risk telling each other what is most important to us. And that vulnerability is what makes this sacred space and sacred time.

The very essence of the Christian faith hangs on the incarnate God who came and lived among us, who suffered with us, who did not forsake us. Jesus showed us what it meant to really be vulnerable and to really love each other. This is our pattern. This is what we say we believe.

So I encourage all of us to continue to tap into our vulnerability and share our burdens with others. Thank you for your presence here today. I feel so blessed to be in relationship with you here. And I honor your willingness to be vulnerable and be in relationship with others here. This is the way we access the peace of Christ, that wonderful overwhelming and all encompassing shalom.

Amen

 

"Standing Up for Those Who are Burdened" Easter V April 28, 2013

Readings and reflection from Sunshine Cathedral in Second Life on the Fifth Sunday of Easter Sunday, April 21, 2013.  Visit us in Second Life, (http://www.secondlife.com) and search for Sunshine Cathedral.

 

Call to Worship

Based on Revelation 21: 3-4

One:   We know that God lives with us here in the fleshy, messy world. 

All:      God is not removed from us, God dwells with us. 

One:   First things will pass away and death will be no more. Mourning and crying and pain will cease.

All:      Every tear will be wiped away 

Loving God in whom we live and move and have our being. Remind us that we are not alone in our journey of life. Let us feel your loving presence with us comforting us and guiding us.  Let our connection with your love be our connection to your creation, that we might know your presence even more fully in the love we share with others.

Acts 11.2-4, 12a (NRSV)

When Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, ‘Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?’ Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying…’The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us…’

 

The Wisdom of Ernest Holmes

We believe in God as the Infinite Spirit permeating everything.

 

The Gospel

Matthew 11.28 (NLT)

Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

 

 "Standing Up for Those Who are Burdened"

 Click to play audio below.  Text follows.

Standing Up for Those Who are Burdened

 

Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher

Standing Up for Those Who are Burdened

All of us know people who are burdened… over worked, underpaid, and unappreciated. Some of us live in hostile environments made by governments, or working conditions, or family situations. Some of us have been taught that unless we perform certain rituals and practices God will somehow love us less. Our gospel lesson to day has Jesus saying to all of us, “Come, rest, relax, be in relationship with me and with each other and you will be refreshed.”

Jesus was particularly speaking, I think, to the poor and the oppressed.  He was talking directly to those people who were over taxed by the Roman government and oppressed by the laws that their religious leaders had created to separate the “good ones” from the “bad ones.”

Governments and empires continue to tax the least able to pay, keeping the poor, poor and allowing the rich to stay rich. How can it be moral for money made from investments, to be taxed at a lower rate than any working person’s wage?  How does that make sense to anyone to allow those who enjoy the luxury of having money to invest to pay 15% tax on what that money makes in interest or dividends while taxing the income of the poor and middle classes, the money that people are literally trading days of their lives for, at higher rates. It’s simply immoral and it burdens those who can least afford it.

Our religious leaders in various faith traditions are doing the same things in our time that the religious leaders of Jesus time did. They “bind up burdens too heavy to bear” and lay them on the shoulders of people who are trying their best to follow the “rules.” In Jesus’ day the Pharisaic tradition had 613 laws that a person had to follow to be considered devout or worthy. Our traditions try to tell us who can marry whom, who is worthy to make a family. Some traditions tell women that they are less than men, refusing them to become clergy and presuming to make healthcare decisions based on a particular group’s reading of scripture.

Young people set off suicide bombs and old monks pour gasoline on themselves and set themselves alight trying to attain some kind of piety, some kind of holiness because they feel they are unworthy just as they are. These have lost hope and resort to these drastic measure, giving up their very lives, in the hope that something will change in the world.

But we have a choice in how we view the world. We can change our perspective and move ourselves from and attitude of defeatism, pessimism, and despair and turn to hope. This, I think, is what Jesus is saying.  Changing our perspective by “coming to Jesus” doesn’t change a single thing in our lives except our view of life.  If we believe that God is here with us, companioning us, suffering with us, we can hang on to hope that a day will come when there is no more crying, and no more mourning.  We can begin to look to a future filled with hope when we realize that we are made in the image of the creator of the universe.

How can we believe that we are created by God and yet filled with sin? It’s just not logical. We know intuitively that when we are connected to others we are connected to God. And it is just as surely true that when we are connected with God we are connected with our own humanity and that of our fellow humans.

This is the real message of Easter, the real message of Jesus the Christ. Evil does not win. Empire does not win. Even death does not win. Love conquers all. And God is always with us. We are not alone no matter what comes our way.

Our work is to bring about the realm of God here on earth. Hope gives us the courage to get up and do something. Hope gives us the strength to get up and start speaking truth to power.

This week in the US we witnessed the most disgusting display of arrogance yet in our government. While millions of children and elderly go hungry, congress rushed through legislation that would insure that those of us who are privileged enough to fly for business or pleasure are not inconvenienced. The across the board budget cuts that supposedly slash spending in every program, in every department in the entire government made an exception this week for air traffic controllers because furloughs for these folks had the potential to cause flight delays.

It’s time we started speaking up and speaking out for those who have no voice in our societies. This kind of obscenity goes right past most of us but it is one of the most egregious examples of privilege and oppression I have witnessed in my lifetime.

“Come to me,” says Jesus, “all you who are burdened and abused and I will give you rest.” That happens when we follow our calling to work for justice. It does not happen by magic. There is no “us and them”. There is no group that deserves to be poor oppressed by an economic system that is unjust and uncompassionate.

We are all made in the image of God. And every single one of us deserves to be treated with love and compassion. The Spirit tells us there is no distinction between “us and them”. Let us practice what we preach this week and live up to the promise of Easter by working for justice and standing up for what is right.

Amen.

Reflections on the Boston Bombings "We are the World" Easter IV April 21, 2013

Readings and reflection from Sunshine Cathedral in Second Life on the Fourth Sunday of Easter Sunday, April 21, 2013.  Visit us in Second Life, search for Sunshine Cathedral.

Lessons

Psalm 100.3-5
3Know that the Eternal is God. It is God that made us; we belong to God. We are God’s people and the sheep of God’s pasture. 4Enter God’s gates with thanksgiving; enter God’s courts with praise. Give thanks and bless God’s names. 5For the Eternal is good; divine steadfast love endures forever, as does divine faithfulness to all generations.

The Wisdom of Ralph W. Trine
All life is from an inner center outward. As within, so without. As we think we become…The great value of God as taught by Jesus is that God dwells in us. It is truly Emmanuel – God with us…There is a mystic force that transcends any power of the intellect or of the body, that becomes manifest or operative in the life of [human-beings] when their divine Self-realization, their God-consciousness, becomes awakened and permeates their entire being…We can bring our minds into rapport, into such harmony and connection with the infinite divine Life and Power, that it speaks in us, directs us, and therefore acts through us as our own very selves.

The Gospel

John 10.22-24, 3

 22At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. 24So the [people] gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 30And Jesus said, “the Eternal and I are one.”

Reflection for Easter IV "We are the World"

Click to play audio below.  Text follows.

 

We are the World

 

 

Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher

"We are the World"

Today I can only begin where I am. And where I am is in Boston in the days after a terrorist bombing 4 blocks from Emmanuel Episcopal Church where I attend temple twice a month on Sabbath evenings and about 20 yards from the entrance of Old South Church where the Pride Interfaith service is held each year. It’s not far from the Apple Store. I know this area like the back of my hand. This attack was in my home. Although my closest friends are safe it was my neighbors who were killed and hurt, some of whom are still recovering in hospital. This week everyone in Boston and the surrounding area became one.

It is at times like these when we most need to feel the loving embrace of the Eternal One. As our Psalm today says, “…we belong to God… the Eternal is good; divine steadfast love endures forever…” In times of fear and trauma we need to know that there is something beyond us, beyond the violence, beyond the blood that stains the pavement on Boylston Street. Beyond the gunfire and the bombs and the violence that shreds our peace of mind.

Our second reading today bridges our human reality with the mystical reality of the Eternal One.  It speaks of Christ transcending our intellect and is manifest when we come to know our true self, our God consciousness. It says that we can listen to that still small voice within and that we can hear the heartbeat of the universe.  It says that we can connect with the “infinite divine Life and Power.” And it’s important for me to hear my own voice say today that every single one of us has this divine spark.

We all have vulnerabilities that we have often been taught are weaknesses to be avoided. But I am learning these days that it is my vulnerability that causes me to connect with others, to be in relationship. I am learning how to turn myself literally inside out so that the masks I have created don’t interfere with my desire to be truly in relationship. I want what is within me to shine forth in how I live in the world.

The gospel lesson today is taken from John chapter 10.  It’s a flashback to Jesus’ life and ministry. Our passage begins with Jesus in Jerusalem at Hanukkah, the Festival of the Dedication.  Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the temple in the second century BCE. The Maccabees rose up and revolted against their oppressors. This was a war for religious freedom. And Jesus comes to Jerusalem to celebrate the holiday.

People gathered around Jesus to ask him who he is. They want to know if he is someone special. This is one of those passages that supersessionists use to establish that Jesus was the Messiah anticipated by the Jewish tradition.  But I have a very different take on Jesus’ responses to these kinds of questions.  I truly believe that what Jesus was trying to get through to us is that we are all one with each other and we are one with God. It seems like an obvious illustration to use oneself. If I said to you, “I and the Eternal are one.” Would you hear me claiming to be the Messiah?  No I think you would hear me saying, “ I and the Eternal are one and you’re just like me so get it? We are all one with each other and with God.”

The teaching that is recorded in the earlier portions of the chapter speaks of one flock. Jesus talks about “other sheep” communicating to us that “others” are not left out. This flock is not an insider outsider affair. We are ALL part of this flock.   People who are invested in keeping their power in tact take up stones to kill Jesus because they think he is teaching blasphemy, they hear him saying that he is God. And Jesus makes the response that gives away what the whole of the teaching on inclusion means, he says beginning in verse 34 “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods?’ – and the scripture cannot be annulled.”  Jesus responds to these orthodox teachers and reminds them that their way of interpreting scripture is not the only way. We can’t leave out the liberative texts and quote only the passages that support exclusion and power over.

So the message from today’s reading is we are one, we are the world. There is no separation between us and them. There are no insiders and outsiders. All of the boundaries and gates we create to keep others out are false. This has been a great comfort to me this week as each day brought new terrors, new threats, and finally a city locked down as thousands of police officers and federal agents hunted the young men who thought they could cripple a community.

I think of those in Israel, Palestine, Its Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and in many other places where the threat of bombings in crowds is a way of life every single day.  Now I know how it feels to live like that for one week of my life. I can hardly imagine living that way for a lifetime. We must remember that when a bomb goes off anywhere in the world, whether planted by terrorists or launched by a government, the violence it spreads touches us all. We are all one, all connected, we and the Eternal are One.

I ask you to use our song after the reflection today to remember all those who have been killed in violence all over the world this week. And please especially remember Boston as we begin to heal from the trauma of this terrible week.

Amen.

23rd Psalm by Bobby McFerrin