Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: GATHERING (07/14/16)
- TITLE: Congregation
By Donna Powers
07/20/16 -
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The more expensive one was a prettier color, and it was only 3 dollars more, so I was leaning toward the more expensive one, when I heard a sharp gasp from a woman standing a few feet down the aisle.
Startled, I looked up.
She was standing stiffly, and seemed transfixed by something playing on one of the big-screen TVs. As I looked toward where she stood, I began to hear the audio from that TV.
Oh, please no. Don’t let this be happening again.
But it was.
It was a newscast; talking about yet another mass shooting. Another chaotic city: panicked and heartsick crowds who had gathered to enjoy a parade. Now, their carefree day had been shattered by the angry bullets of another angry young man.
We had seen this type of news too often in these past weeks, and it gave me a jolt of sadness. I inched closer to the television. Every broadcasted word jolted my heart. I had no personal connection to the people who had died; didn’t even know anyone in the state where it had happened, but somehow, it felt as if this latest tragedy had personally impacted me.
Unbidden, a tear coursed down my cheek. Another tragedy: another group of citizens: heartbroken by yet another inexplicable act of violence.
As I drew closer to the TVs and stood next to the other woman, I saw she was crying softly, as she watched the news unfold.
I turned tentatively to her. “Do you know someone there?” I asked.
She shook her head. The sadness in her eyes seemed to echo the raw emotions of my heart. “It’s just too much,” she answered. “It happens too often these days. It’s just so sad.”
I nodded. There seemed little to say. As I watched for a few minutes more, I became aware of another woman, standing to our left. Her eyes were also fixed on the newscast.
I suddenly noticed what time it was, and remembered I had more errands to do. There was nothing to be accomplished by standing here. I turned to the other two women. “God bless you,” I said.
The other two women turned to me. One was wearing a Star of David, and the other was wearing a head covering. Instinctively, I reached out my hand. The three of us formed a circle; our eyes echoing our common sentiments. The circle joined us in a brief communion of solidarity.
We all had different faiths, but our hearts were turning in our sadness toward the same God. For one brief moment, our eyes built a bridge of peace between us. We smiled and wished each other blessings, and moved toward our separate destinies.
As I walked out to my car, my heart was buoyed by those few precious moments, and I lifted my heart in prayer for our country, and in praise to the God Who is its only Hope.
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“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matt 18:20
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