On November 19, 2022, Kelly Loving, Daniel Aston, Derrick Rump, Ashley Paugh, and Raymond Green Vance were killed and 25 others injured in a mass shooting by 22-year-old Anderson Aldrich at LGBTQ+ club, Club Q, in Colorado Springs.

And so we pray this news . . .

May you not lose yourself in this shadowed valley between rage and grief, but instead observe how many of us are wandering through this wilderness with you, may you never deny this inflamed feeling, but when you feel yourself about to be consumed by the heat, may you reach out to those who are collectively blazing ways out of these despairing depths, may you offer your rage as a gift to these uprisings, listening to those who can help you organize your anger into action and focus your fear into sustained attention, and may you not reach for hope before you’re ready, but may you invite the communal striving for it to keep you climbing out of the fire.

Amen