Advent Devotions

Today’s author is Prince of Peace Minister of Faith Formation and Community Engagement, Alyssa Herrig.

On Friday, March 20, a vehicle transporting 12 members of my former church in Jackson, MN was involved in an accident on Highway 71 in southern Minnesota. Four of the adults were killed. Out of the survivors, 5 occupants had been youth involved in my programs. 

When I first saw on Facebook that there had been an accident, I reached out to a friend to see if she had any details. She gave me the information she knew and said that the names of those involved would be released that evening. Even without knowing all the names, it was a gut-punch. If you have ever lived in a community where family and friends are so interconnected, you know the ripple effect grief can have. I knew I would at least know someone who knew those affected.

I was devastated as I read through the list of those in the crash. I had known all but the driver of the van and the other vehicle involved.  My neighbors, Rick and Kathy, were killed in that crash. They lived kiddie-corner from me and I saw the family coming and going from that house frequently. It was definitely a central hub for their grandkids. Kathy was also on the library board at church. I had many conversations with her over the 7 years I lived in Jackson. 

Lindsey’s kids were deeply involved in all that happened at church. She was my go-to donation adult for fundraisers and put in so much work to help her kids travel with me to Idaho, Texas, California and camp. Kelly’s kids were younger during my time in Jackson, and I got to see her when she came to the children’s programs. 

As I read through the text for this Holy Week, I gravitated several times to verse 18: “There they crucified him and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them.” During this week of heaviness and sadness, verse 18 draws me in. Jesus sits in the middle of death with two others. His pain is our pain, his grief our grief. In the midst of his holiness-he endures the consequence of humanity. However, knowing that our pain is not permanent transforms our beliefs into the hope and promise that Jesus proclaimed through his words and actions.

To be continued on Friday…