April 4, 2023
In the Christian world this week is called “Holy Week.” It is a week in which we remember the death and resurrection of Jesus. How appropriate to do so in the spring, a time when we watch the “death” of nature “spring” forth in its full beauty. In the words of Walt Whitman: The smallest sprout shows there is really no death, And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it, And ceased the moment life appeared. All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses And to die is different from what anyone supposed, and luckier. These words reflect the teaching of Jesus who said: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, though he should die, will come to life; and whoever is alive and believes in me will never die." Let us pray for the family and friends of those who have experienced the violent death of their loved ones this past month. May the words of Jesus and nature itself bring them through pain to the comfort of the promise of new life. We remember: March 12 - Shauun Monroe, 42, stabbing; March 12 - Jaykwan Hardy, 26, homicide, under investigation; March 13 - David Beauchamp, 65, burned body found, under investigation; March 20 - James Wilder, 59, vehicular homicide; March 24 - Terrance Micheal White, 51, gun; March 25 - Brian J. Gerth 30, gun – possibly self-defense, domestic incident; March 27 - school shooting in Nashville, Tenn.: Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9, Hallie Scruggs, 9, William Kinney, 9, Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, Mike Hill, 61; March 8 - five persons died in Dayton fire: Brittany Lee Alsup, 33, Chrisinda Jo Ray Freeman, Christopher Hermann, 41, Andrew Miller, 30, Laura Sears, 37.