A group of Chapel Hill clergy met in the prayer garden at University Baptist one week after the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. We began our prayer service at exactly 11:33, the time the horror began. Leaders from different churches and faith traditions were invited to have roles in the prayer service. I was assigned the benediction.
I read the final verses of 2 Corinthians. It says, “Put things in order, … agree with one another, live in peace.” Then in the next verse Paul tells the Corinthians to “Greet one another with a holy kiss” (13:12). COVID 19 has greatly deterred this practice. I wonder what the world would look like if Christ followers were as concerned about greeting one another with love and affection as they are about getting their point across in arguments.
While we aren’t kissing each other right now, we can strive for agreement, or at least mutual respect. COVID or no COVID, we can commit to working for peace.
