a note from rev. sharon

Gracious is the Lord and righteous; our God is full of compassion. (Psalm 116)
Dear St. John’s,
   The fate of 5 people in a submersible watercraft that descended to view the wreckage of the Titanic has dominated the news this week.
   Some have questioned why this received so much more coverage than the death of hundreds of migrants after a boat capsized in the Mediterranean. Others wondered whether the passengers should have used the $250,000 fee they reportedly paid to go on this dangerous adventure for charitable works instead.
   These are legitimate ethical debates. But we should never lose our compassion for these individuals and others who experience tragedies.
   Compassion is not a zero-sum game. We do not feel less compassion for the dead migrants and their families or for those killed in a mass shooting and their loved ones just because we also feel compassion for the 5 people killed in the Titan submersible and for those who are grieving their loss.
   It is like Easter Vigil, when the Pascal candle is lit from the kindled fire and then spreads, candle-to-candle, throughout the church. Lighting one candle from another doesn’t extinguish the first candle; it spreads the light.
   This is how God’s love and compassion work, spreading and growing from person to person. Let us continue to share and spread God’s light throughout the world, just as God shines it upon us.

Rev. Sharon
 
Have compassion on those who suffer from any grief or trouble;
That they may be delivered from their distress.
Give to the departed eternal rest;
Let light perpetual shine upon them.
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 387)