Today is an excruciating anniversary for many people — those known to us and those unknown to us.
We remember and pray for hostages and their families who face this difficult first anniversary, a year of great angst, loss, and empty seats at the table.
We remember and pray for the people of Gaza who have lost tens of thousands of loved ones, their infrastructure, their homes, and their way of life.
We remember and pray for the people of Lebanon who are in harm’s way now, crying out for safety and justice, and for their families around the world.
We remember and pray for people in our own towns — Muslims, Jews, Christians, and all people of conscience — who are connected to the Middle East, who fear for their own safety locally in times of rising anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia.
In all of this collectively, and in each piece of this particularly, I will share what my friends at Farm Church say: “In whatever you’re feeling, don’t feel it alone.”
May we surround one another.
— Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 