This July our church theme is “food trucks,” as reflected in our VBS program. Frankly, trying to tie in a trauma responsive topic to food trucks left me with writer’s block. For a while, I thought about going with the idea of expanding to other mobile vehicles that respond to trauma events like ambulances, fire trucks, Red Cross trucks, and armored vehicles. This idea did not inspire me to get to the keyboard, and it was a stretch from the concept of bringing food to those who are hungry and wanting nourishment but not in dire need of help and support.
Actually, I had been thinking about segueing the multiple “kinds of vehicles” idea to recent major news events, as these stories are commonly associated with large groups of people undergoing significant trauma in their lives. Stories like mass shootings (particularly in schools), the destruction of a civilization in Ukraine by war, efforts to inhibit emigration of those seeking asylum at our southern border, states rescinding health care for women who need abortions after sexual assault or other challenging circumstances, efforts to delegitimize the protections and services for transgender individuals, and the impact of rampant inflation on low-income families. It struck me that many readers are too fatigued to tune in to the heavy toll of constant exposure to stress and frustration we can feel at not having power or control over these events. So, we may shut out thinking about these events.
Then I opened the congregational prayer request this morning (from June 20th). There it was--
a reminder that God is there to turn to for help with events we cannot control. These requests included intercession for: victims of war, those in financial difficulty, those suffering from gun violence, people in hospitals and nursing homes, LGBTQ+ community to counteract increased confrontations of their needs, and survivors of school shootings.
Our prayers ask for God’s involvement in healing and justice for those suffering, keeping us in tune with the needs of those facing community-wide traumas. All are encouraged to pray for one or more of these needs in our world, to keep our hearts open to the pain others suffer, and open to ways God can change our world and give us direction.
