The tragic news that Brother Roger was slain during a worship service
is a chilling and literal reminder that Christians are not isolated from evil--even in their assemblies. I've attended Taize services at a local church and participated in the peaceful meditative worship. It is dangerous to assume, however, that only good people are interested in what matters to God.

Apostle of Christian unity slain in church
Founder of ecumenical community is stabbed
Elaine Ganley - Associated Press
Thursday, August 18, 2005

Paris --- It was vespers in the Church of Reconciliation and a choir of monks was intoning the first notes of evensong amid a sea of worshippers.

In the peace and solemnity of prayer, few people in the village of Burgundy paid heed to the woman who had slipped into the group of monks.

Suddenly, said a witness, the woman lunged and sank a knife into the throat of the 90-year-old Brother Roger. He slumped forward, blood gushing from his wound.

Fifteen minutes later, the founder of the Taize Ecumenical Community, celebrated worldwide for promoting Christian dialogue and for harboring Jews during World War II, was dead.

"It happened very fast. There were some screams. We turned around. He was wounded," said Brother Emile, who was present when Brother Roger was stabbed at least twice. "We carried him out of the church so people didn't see the terrible part. . . . She slit his throat."

The slaying Tuesday elicited shock and grief from the pope, the head of the Anglican Church, and worshippers around the world.

Tributes to the silver-haired cleric poured in Wednesday to the tranquil Taize Community, nestled in the village north of Lyon.

Pope Benedict XVI, who had received a letter from Brother Roger on Tuesday, deplored the "very sad and terrifying news." Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the Church of England, called it "an indescribable shock."

The Taize Community's Web site was so inundated with messages that it crashed.

Brother Roger, whose surname was Schutz, was born of a Swiss Protestant father and a French Catholic mother. He moved to Taize in 1940 with plans to found a monastery.

He harbored Jewish refugees during the World War II Nazi occupation of France, then built the ecumenical Taize Community with a mission to reconcile all denominations of Christians and promote dialogue and peace.

About 2,500, mostly teens gathered for youth prayer, were present.

Roger was among 80 brothers who form the choir, kneeling in a rectangle in the center of the church. The attack occurred about 8:45 p.m., about five minutes after the service started, said Brother Emile.

The 36-year-old intruder had visited Taize for a week in June and was considered psychologically fragile. Brother Emile said colleagues reported she was "a very sick woman in Romania" who screamed in churches.

"We asked her not to stay," Brother Emile said in a telephone interview. She returned about two days ago, bypassing the reception area.

The prosecutor in nearby Macon, Jean-Louis Coste, said the suspect bought the knife the day before.

A prayer for my friend:

Dear God,

There is nothing we encounter that you yourself have not endured and mastered.
Your compassion and mercy have no equal.
Your holy power is greater than any affliction.
Thank You for never leaving us alone in our misery and pain.
Thank You for Marlene's trust and faith to reach out for You in every way she can.
Thank You already for the circle of support You are assembling to surround her when she needs it most!

I pray earnestly for Marlene in the tunnel where she feels captured.
You always know what your precious child needs and You are faithful to deliver it at precisely the right moment!
Already your breeze of relief is on its way;
will you speed it to Marlene on angel wings?
Expel all doubt and fear that accompanies her physical trial, and release her from the robber's grip!
Shine Your light in the dark places and allow Marlene to escape!

Please prepare her doctors with an extra measure of attention and wisdom to discern her treatment.
Equip Ron and Marlene with the strength and endurance and faith they need to care for one another.

There is no God like You!
You spare nothing, not even your own Son to save us!
May all the glory be Yours!
Amen.

Dear God,

Today the teachers and support staff in my county will welcome students to a full day of school.
You are Lord of preparation, dedication, anticipation, and instruction.
Your protection and direction are essential, whether schooling is public, private or home-based.

Jesus is the Alpha and Omega of teachers, demonstrating mastery of each lesson himself, before he would require it of his students. May His sacrifice, compassion and encouragement reside in each teaching heart and inspire patience and excellence.

Jesus is the willing student, obedient and available.
May his focus and attention to purpose and his desire to live fully in the knowledge of your creation and within your rules of relationship be the motivating seed in fertile impressionable minds.

May teachers also be obedient to learn and students also be inspired to teach.
May Your Presence fill each classroom, hallway, bus and parking lot, causing temptation to be squelched and evil to flee.

Of all that is accomplished in education, may there be no greater lesson
than You are Love.

Amen.

I was asked how long a mosquito lives.

I guess that depends on several variables, and I've heard it's wise to respond with a question if you don't have the answer.
So I replied, "Uh, why?"
"Because there's one trapped in the car."

Are there really any bad bugs?
Or are there "bad" ones because we label them pests?

After I wrote that down, here's something I read:

And when I begin to think about God's wild extravagance, his wastefulness, his passion for the unnecessary and the excessive and the completely useless, I am struck by a thought so wonderfully freeing I can do nothing but laugh. What if that extravagance extends to me? I am not a soldier for God, or a valued servant in the kingdom. I am a jester! I am the celestial equivalent of a peacock--a tiara--a talking doll. We were not made to serve God. We were made to charm him.

Mallory Ortberg, as quoted by John Ortberg
God is Closer Than You Think, 2005.