Our synodical structures and congregations in New York City and Washington, D.C., are actively seeking to serve in an overwhelming situation. The vulnerability we all feel enhances our ability to act compassionately. We are children of God, finite yet emboldened with God's grace, vitally concerned about sisters and brothers who have been devastated. We care, because God cares. Evil is real.
Hatred is damaging.
As a people who live in the promises of our God, we respond with hope. Hope that is not Pollyannaish optimism, but grounded in the Cross of Jesus Christ. Hope that understands that terrorism will not have victory over a Cross that brings life out of death. Hope that has experienced our God's ability to redeem even the worst of human darkness. We will live in hope.