Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it.

— Mark Twain

Greetings, Inspired Seekers:

As I sit to write this newsletter, my heart is breaking, my mind reeling and my soul throbbing with visions of the scenes of horrific pain, now embedded into the streets of Memphis. Streets where now and forever, tears of sorrow and cries of agony along with the sounds of hatred are imprinted into the streets at the intersection of rage and ruin.

The deepest chasms of the human soul cracked open and humanity was swallowed. Whole. As so many of us witnessed the unfolding of these pictures of terror, where all sense of holiness was lost, we held our faiths close and entered another deeper level, our central core, the space where we pray. We found ourselves in the maze of a merciless pit, seeking the voice of God; the voice in the wilderness of despair, desperate for compassion.

If there was ever a time where we deeply needed to not simply pray but to feel, to sense the power of that Holy Spirit, it was as we, uncomfortably, were called to bear witness to the unspeakable brutality of human nature, completely disconnected from holiness.

Shadows fall over the earth as we pause and struggle to find words to express not just our pain but our prayerful cries to the heavens.

And so, bereft of words, my prayer continues: May we enter this next month deeply connected to each other, to our God and to the shared longings of our hearts to reach that space for grace together. And through prayer, we join each other in the Presence of our God with tears that cause us to remember that, in faith, we hope. Always, we hope.

Grace, Always Yours,
Reverend Deborah

Question of the Month: Will I commit to prayer for the ceasing of the agony of brutality?

Prayer requests can be made at GraceMatters@TheSpaceForGrace.com by people of all traditions and beliefs.