Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like. James 1: 22 -24 ( The Message Bible)

Once again, we are praying for the loss of innocent lives killed by a mentally unstable person with an AR-15 rifle.  Throughout the years, and just in the last two weeks, we prayed for the families and friends who are grieving following horrific acts of violence.  We prayed for their grief and sorrow will be surrounded by love and comfort.  We prayed that our governments will take action to stop the violence.

And yet…more families and friends grieve the loss of a loved one. Lives continue to be shattered and torn apart.  Communities of faith are fearful that someone may enter their sacred space and start shooting.  People are anxious to enter a grocery store. Students and teachers, despite security measures, are afraid for their lives in what should the safest space.

As communities of faith who pray for peace and preach hope, we find ourselves in space that calls us from not only prayer and preaching to a space where we are called into action.

At the same time there is so much happening around us. The pandemic, gun violence, refugees, racial injustice, climate change and so much more within our own communities and families, overwhelms us.

And yet…James reminds us that we cannot just be hearers we have to be doers. He drills down on his statement with “The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse. ( James 2: 26 – The Message Bible)

And yet…we are still overwhelmed with what can we do in these troubling times.

Nadia Bolz-Weber wrote in her essay, “If you can’t take it anymore, there’s a reason: an essay on circuit breakers, empty buckets, and the shame-show of social media”, that we do need to do something, but we can’t do everything, and that’s okay.  Find the one thing you can do and know at this time and place that is enough.

And yet…this is not the time to step totally away from all that needs our attention and action. This is the time to discern where God is calling you as an individual and as a faith community to action. The time has arrived to take action.

Below are resources for action. Find the place where God is calling you and your congregation to serve in these overwhelming times. We can no longer sit on the sidelines and pray. We must pray and take action so our prayers are not in vain.

But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action. ( James 1: 26 The Message Bible)