Dear Ones of St. Columba's,

  I wish it did not feel routine, to wake up again to news of a shooting. But we do not always get what we want or wish for and I, like many of us, was horrified and saddened to hear of the shooting in Thousand Oaks, CA that took place last night. It has been a brutal couple of weeks, and we are once again forced to deal with the fallout from a senseless, violent crime against innocent people. Last week I wrote to you about the deaths of Jewish elders, slain in a hate crime. It is too early to know much about the victims of last night's shooting at the time of this writing, but we do know that this time around we have lost young people, college students or people of that general age. 

  I was ordained a priest in the summer of 2014. I remember the first sermon I preached after a major crisis - it was before my ordination. I took the pulpit at St. Paul's on Queen Anne, the week after the shooting at Seattle Pacific University. I remember thinking what a rare thing it was, to have that sacred task so soon in my ministry. And yet, in the years since then, it has happened over and over and over again - Sunday mornings gathered in community with you after something horrific has happened in our country or our world. 

 So what do we do? Thoughts and prayers are good, but they are not enough. And yet, it doesn't feel like there is anything that can make this stop. I can't offer a concrete solution, but here is what I can say to you - there is some way that you can practice love in the face of hate today. There are many ways that we, together, can practice peace in the face of violence, today. It won't feel like we are fixing anything. But it matters. Choosing to love your neighbor matters. Choosing to vote, as many of us have this past week, in ways that put love before hate and peace before violence, this matters. Choosing to be a community that loves before we fear, and that comes together to share all that we hold - grief, sadness, anxiety, fear, joy, love, faith, and hope - this also matters. 

The God we worship never leaves us alone. The God we worship was murdered in a violent way and did not let death defeat love. I am praying, and I am thinking about how I can act to move our nation toward peace, toward love. I am crying out for mercy, and relief from horrifying events like this one. I am holding the souls of the departed - now more than ever - in my prayers. I invite you to join me, and to keep the faith. Practice love today. Then do it again tomorrow. Love always. Because we are children of the one who is Love. Especially now, and especially today.

with care, gratitude, and hope,

Alissa