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The Reverend Dr. Katie Snipes Lancaster

We dedicate these perfect summer days to you, Holy One, in whom we live and move and have our being.

These blue sky days are alive with your presence. The shimmer of sunshine giving rise to the deep breath of peace. We need you on the green, in the field, on the lake shore. We need you as the fireflies settle across our yards.

We need you, Holy Wisdom. We need you, Redeemer. We need you, Fierce Protection.

For even on the most perfect summer days, the impossible can happen. Even amid joy, sorrow can unfold. We are still staggered, dazed, shaken up by the brute force and untamed rage that was unleashed in Highland Park on Independence Day. Our hearts are with those who died. Those who were wounded. Those whose lives were turned upside down in ways unimaginable.

We grieve. We remember. We question. We confess the impossibility of reconciling the joy of a parade alongside shock and sorrow of violence. Hold our prayers. Hold our questions. Hold our sorrow. Hold the hurt. Hold our dreams for a world without such hate. Hold our resolutions to work toward a kinder, more peaceful world.

Let us be an instrument of your love. Let us be an instrument of your peace. Let us be an instrument of possibility.

There is no other way. Guide us, O God. Blessed are you, O God, whose glory is hidden in the suffering of the cross. Blessed are you, O God, whose tears are poured out for the sorrow of the world. Blessed are you, O God, who longs for peace. As we pray “thy kingdom come” let us rest in you. Our father…. Amen.