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Rev. Vicky's Message March 17, 2022

Spring is bursting out all around us. The season of new birth and rebirth in all its glory. I just planted new flowers in my front walkway potted-garden. And as of this writing, I’m still anticipating the birth of my new grandson, Lennon (today was actually the due date…but as we all know, babies set their own schedule for arrival). All the while I am continually blessed witnessing my granddaughter, Rory Rose blossoming into a new being every day…with new discoveries and abilities… communicating her wants (and don’t wants), gaining coordination, and almost walking. If you want a lesson in openness, curiosity, trust, and innocence - spend time with a 14.5 month-old! (I read recently that we describe children by months up to age 2 because the changes from month to month in the first two years of life are dramatic and amazing! And it’s definitely true.)


With so much LIFE blooming all around - it’s bewildering to witness all the destruction and death occurring in Ukraine (and other places in the world) on the news - and attempt to hold it all -- the life and the death, the joy and the sorrow, the hope and the despair -- in my heart. But that is what we’re called to do. As John Roedel so eloquently says: I can’t force peace upon the world but I can become a force of peace in the world…

I can’t make the

world be peaceful

I can’t stall tanks

from roaring down streets

I can’t prevent children

from having to hide in bunkers

I can’t convince the news to

stop turning war into a video game

I can’t silence the sound of bombs

tearing neighborhoods apart

I can’t transform a guided missile

into a bouquet of flowers

I can’t make a warmonger

have an ounce of empathy

I can’t convince ambassadors

to quit playing truth or dare

I can’t deflect a sniper’s bullet

from turning a wife into a widow

I can’t stave off a country from being

reduced to ash and to rubble

I can’t do any of that

the only thing I can do

is to love the next person I encounter

without any strings or conditions

to love my neighbor

so fearlessly that

it causes a ripple

that stretches from

one horizon to the next

I can’t force peace

upon the world

but I can become a force

of peace in the world

because sometimes

sometimes all it takes

is a candle, a single candle

lit in the darkness

to start a movement

“Lord, make me a candle

of comfort in this world

let me burn with peace”. ~ John Roedel


Blessings and Peace - Rev. Vicky



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