Next Sunday, Sept 8th, a day that the ELCA declares a Day of Service, I invite you to write letters. Letters of thank you to our First Responders, whom we rely on day in and day out, to be willing to lay down their life for us, so we might make it home safely to our families and be safe and secure in our homes. They serve willingly and silently, but not without cost. The trauma they encounter has a huge impact on their lives and families. Feel free to make an appointment to talk with me, if this triggers anything for you. As a daughter of a Vietnam Veteran, I can relate to the challenges PTSD and moral injury cause a family unit.
Pre-printed letters will also be available for your signature in Adult Forum, in Fellowship Hall for children’s Sunday School, and in the foyer, that give thanks, offer prayer for, and commitment to answer our baptismal call to work for justice and peace in the world. We will deliver these letters to our local fire and police departments, EMT unit, and to an ELCA chaplain who is deployed with troops serving overseas. In the following weeks, if you feel called to write letters to our legislators to work for justice and peace on behalf of our first responders, veterans, and victims of war, there will be opportunities to do so.
—Pastor Alexis King