Friends,

As of this writing, we do not know the full impact of the violence that unfolded at the Independence Day parade in Highland Park today, but we know that we need one another as we lament. For those in search of community amid sorrow, please join us in the sanctuary tomorrow—Tuesday, July 5 at 12:15 p.m.—for prayer, silence, and the sacred act of gathering. This mid-day prayer is also available via livestream here, for those who wish to join virtually.

I share with you the agony of your grief,
The anguish of your heart finds echo in my own.
I know I cannot enter all you feel
Nor bear with you the burden of your pain;
I can but offer what my love does give:
The strength of caring,
The warmth of one who seeks to understand
The silent storm-swept barrenness of so great a loss.
This I do in quiet ways,
That on your lonely path
You may not walk alone.

—”For a Time of Sorrow” by Howard Thurman, from Meditations of the Heart