On Wednesday morning, August 26th, Alison Parker and Adam Ward, members of the television news team of WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia were shot and killed while on the air doing a live interview by a very disturbed man.  Once again, misdirected anger has boiled over leaving sorrow in its wake.

Yet another act of violence confronts us. Yet more lives are lost in a hail of bullets. Yet more hearts are shattered. Yet more dreams will go unfulfilled, more potential unrealized, more promise unmet.

Join me this day in prayers for the family and friends of the victims and the shooter.  And join me in asking for the Peace of Christ to wash over us, giving us the courage to be blessed peacemakers who – through an act of Christ-like service we offer daily – love and serve all those whom Jesus loves.
Peace,
Ram

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. – Colossians 3:15

This broken heart will not ever mend.

The unbearable, excruciating pain left
in the wake of violent acts becomes
the only physical reminder of beautiful
loved ones whose lives will be unable
to embody the fullness prepared
for them by their Creator.

Brass, lead, powder and an inexhaustible
supply of resentment combine in the
crucible of anger becoming a deadly,
destructive force unleashed on innocents,
ending, changing untold numbers of lives.

The presence of violence is the absence
of hope. The absence of hope can only
be reversed by the presence of Love.

The presence of Love is
the presence of God
made real by the love
we share with one another.

How shall I share God’s Love today?
Whose life can I touch today with
the Peace of Christ? What kindness
can I cast into the pond of despair
creating ripples of hope to clear away
the tears, to make way
for new, hopeful lives to emerge?

Show me today, Deep Love, with whom
I am to share your Life.  Bless those
whose lives won’t suffer because

of one simple act of imitating your Love.
27 August 2015