By Rev. Dr. Dawn Weaks
Pastor, Connection Christian Church
August has long been a favorite month for me, despite the heat. It’s my birthday month for one, and it is filled with the “back-to-school” community spirit that brings us all together. I love August! Yet as another anniversary of our mass shooting looms at the end of the month, I realize August has a different feel to it now. For the fourth year, part of August for me is working on planning a community remembrance for those wounded and killed, and for the first responders who are recovering from that day.
“It’s time to move on,” some would say. But so much of our human experience is remembering. The Bible uses the word “remember” almost synonymously with the word “faith.” We are told to remember over and over again. Especially when we gather around the communion table, we do it to remember both the tragedy and triumph of Jesus’ death. It is a moment in worship when we touch on lament and remember that God can redeem even our most awful experiences. Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel puts it this way, “After all, God is God because He remembers.”
This year, our remembrance will take a new turn. Our community leaders have been planning a day of service, a day of shining light into the darkness. Thanks to UTPB’s gracious generosity, the Bright Stars Memorial is being built off of their walking path. When you turn into the park from Loop 338, it’s at the south end of the parking lot. To start off Wednesday Aug. 31, at 7 a.m., you are invited to a brief service of prayer to consecrate the site of the memorial. Then, all day long, you are invited to remember by serving others. Take some flowers to your neighbor or bless a community non-profit with volunteering, or maybe stop by the Family Resiliency Center (4682 E. University) for your own mental health care check-in. For most who were directly impacted by 8/31/19, it is as if no time has passed at all. For the rest of us, pausing to remember and shine a light honors the struggle they live with every day.
I still love August. Now it is tinged with remembering. I pray that we never forget how precious life is and how fortunate we are to have each other.
