Dear Customers and Friends:
With “Uvalde” in the Subject Line of my email, many of you will not get around to reading this first sentence. I can hardly blame you. After all, what more can be said about the murder of 19 innocent children and two teachers? (Especially in the aftermath of another mass shooting that same week in Buffalo).
But we can’t look away. As Christians, our faith must stand tall. “We need a light in the darkness,” said Doug Swimmer, a pastor with The Potter’s House Church in Uvalde.
They say that the worst of times brings out the best in people. Crisis also brings us together in shared grief and compassion. I can tell you that Uvalde
certainly has been on the minds and prayers of everyone at our company, at home and in my church.
Rebecca Solnit, a writer who has studied human response to disasters like the 911 terrorist attacks, says that no matter how we vote or what we do for a living, a tragedy unites us. “It requires we act altruistically, bravely, and with initiative in order to survive or save our neighbors.”
Find Common Ground in Sympathy
If we’re not careful, tragedy can just as easily divide us. We’ve already heard the arguments on both sides of gun control. But before we can find a solution, we must first find common ground in our sympathy for the Uvalde community and families who lost their precious loved ones.
I read that the churches in Uvalde have been filled in recent weeks with mourners, many of whom had not been to church in years. One of those churchgoers said in a news story that he came to church because he was angry. “Maybe some people don’t understand,” he said, “but God gives us peace. That peace is not like anything this world can offer.”
So, what can we do to help ease the pain in Uvalde, especially for those of us so far away? It’s a little like struggling awkwardly for the right words to say at a funeral.
David Reed, a Catholic bishop in West Texas, said in response to Uvalde that all we have to offer is ourselves. “We have received the power to love and to resist hatred. And we can pray. We must pray. Ignore the cynics and pray with all your heart.”
Because love is all we’ve got, he says. And we must never, ever surrender to the darkness.
Blessed to be a Blessing,
Greg Syfan
President, Syfan Logistics