The last 24 hours, I attended 5 deaths, affecting families across the spectrum on incomes, race, and age. I listened to life stories. I prayed with broken-hearted parents. I offered a quiet presence. And I pondered the value of each human soul as a life ended.

There are days that it is hard to know how to comfort, how to care, how to offer words that heal and not hurt. To point the way to a journey of hope instead of guilt.

The Ash Wednesday reading from I Peter 1 came back to me as I listened and walked the hallways of grief over the last 24 hours…

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…                    1 Peter 1:3

It is that living hope that carries me, holds me, renews me, challenges me, and helps me walk this road with others.

Thanks be to God!