Scott's Weekly Greeting, January 7, 2021

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
January 07, 2021

Scott's Weekly Greeting, January 7, 2021 ...

I normally "pen" this greeting on Tuesday afternoons, but this week I was caught up with other responsibilities. In some ways I am glad for the delay, in other ways I am not. The events of yesterday afternoon were shocking, devastating, sickening and infuriating. As was the case during national tragedies, many of us sat glued to our televisions or computers watching the events unfold.

I offered a post yesterday afternoon, but the information regarding the attack upon the United States Capital building was coming from raw feeds without the benefit of commentary or analysis. The reality is that we still do not have a complete picture of what happened and how it happened. That may take months.

We do know that four people lost their lives yesterday afternoon. Several others were injured. Dozens of people were terrorized and feared for their lives. The symbol of our democracy was desecrated, ransacked and vandalized.

Our democratic republic operates best when the public is informed and engaged. Our Constitution allows for the citizenry to disagree and even to protest the decisions made by our leaders. We have been given the right to free speech. We can raise our voices and cry out against those things with which we disagree, but we cannot raise our arms and express ourselves with violence. Sadly, violence has been used to express our feelings .. our passion and our rage ... far too often.

The events of January 6 occurred less than two weeks after we celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ on a day that we call the Feast of the Epiphany. Less than two weeks after we worshipped the Prince of Peace, our country witnessed the horror of violent rage. It is sad and tragic that we step away from the way of love so quickly. My fervent prayer is that we will find our way to that path. I pray that those who disagree on political and social issues will seek common ground so that events like yesterday's attack will not happen again. I pray God's wonderful peace will one day fill every heart.

This week in worship, we celebrate another wonderful event in the life of Jesus Christ ... his baptism. One of the best things that I get to do in my ministry is to perform baptisms. I will not be playing the part of John the Baptist on Sunday, but I will have the privilege and honor of baptizing the child that played Jesus in our Christmas pageant! Our message, "Water and Word," will explore what the baptism of Jesus means in our lives today.

May God bless you all.

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