Pulse, The Healing Continues

Yesterday in my church we had a time of silence as bells chimed 49 times.  This was in remembrance of the 49 people who were killed in a downtown Orlando nightclub exactly one year ago today.  The bells chimed, not only in my church, but in churches around the world.

My Orlando Sentinel
Front Cover Today
One Year Later

While we were in silent prayer with the chiming of the bells, the big screens in the front of the sanctuary were filled with a montage, created by the church staff,  of the names of all 49 victims.

I felt a sense of loss but also a deep sense of pride in my city and my church community.

Today's Orlando Sentinel says, on the front page:

...we are better, we are stronger, we are more united than we were on June 12, 2016.  Orlando has been defined - not by the brutality of one hateful individual who targeted innocent patrons in a gay nightclub on Latin Night - but by the response to it from across our community.

This editorial goes on to talk about our impulse to smother evil with good.  I think the vast majority of us human beings have this impulse.


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