So I am going out now for a prayer walk, and I’m going to pray for the suspect and his family as well as everyone else.
Today is the official Patriots’ Day here in Massachusetts. It is a little after 8 and although I live forty minutes from Boston, I feel simultaneously invaded and personally safe. To see Kenmore Square vacant, to picture parts of Watertown that I know, to observe the police standing with hands behind their backs waiting for instructions…. Well, I could go on and on but no need because very likely you, whoever and wherever you are, are probably watching the same scenes.
At the moment I have left the TV room and come to the AR (Angel Room) to write and pray. It doesn’t feel healthy to stay glued to the TV, although a part of me wants to do just that. Last night, I tore my mind away from the news and attended an ecumenical service sponsored by the Sudbury Clergy Association at St. John’s Luther Church in town. It was a quiet, simple service, offering a comforting combination of solitude and community.
Stepping away from ‘breaking news’ makes it easier for me to concentrate on the messages that President Obama, Governor Patrick, Mayor Menino and leaders of faith offered yesterday at the Service of Healing—to be present to the moment and to move forward.
Right now I need to get away from police sirens and TV chatter so I’m going to take a walk, grateful that I can step outside of my house.