With all that has been in the news we are reminded of the sacredness and fragility of life. The senseless loss through violence  breaks one’s heart and calls us to action in both prayer and joining our voices with others who cry out for justice and help. We are called to recognize each other, no matter how different we are, as sister and brother and to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who weep, for we are all a part of one another.

Pastor Martin Niemöller, prominent German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor, wrote

“In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.”

  As we are more aware of the sacredness and fragility of life, how will you treasure yours and others today? Where is God calling you? Who is God calling you to notice?