One pastor writes to her congregation to offer a gentle, humane way to help her people deal with the war. If you're looking for words to put things in perspective, these may help.

The author, the Rev. Cathy Cummings Chisholm, is pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Weyauwega, WI.

We thank her for sharing this letter.

What's being said in your congregation as people try to cope with the concerns and emotions of these days?  Words of comfort?  Calls to action?

Please send a note, and we'll share it here!

From the Pastor....

On January 1, 1945, Alma Cummings, my grandmother, wrote her name and address on the inside cover of a new five-year diary. Her entries express the concerns of the of a middle-aged woman (wife, mother, sister, daughter) living in a rural area of southern Indiana:

January 3 - roads slick

January 5 - Paris won [H.S basketball game]

February 8 - Perry [nephew] left for Army

February 12 - dismissed school till roads settled

February 17 - got my hair curled $6.00

March 6 - Rain, creek flooded

March 8 - ironed & usual routine

April 12 - Fair & warm. Pres Roosevelt died, Play practice tonite.

May 1 - Washed. Made garden. Went out to mothers and helped paper.

May 4 - Bought us a new home on 711 Walnut St, Cloudy, Cold

May 26 - Bill [nephew] got his call to go to army. Took Gram C. to Dr. Fair Warm

June 16 - First nite in our new home

June 24 - Went fishing. Mother came home with Alta

July 9 - cleaned up house, finished cro.[chet] apron and finished 4 print aprons

July 17 - Washed & canned peaches. Got a Bu. for $3.49, got 19 qts

July 22 - Went to fair this eve. Very hot.

August 4 - Rays last day at factory. Hot.

August 14 - Washed. War ended. Announced at 6. Parade this eve. Rain to-nite

August 15 - Stores closed today. Whistles, bells, horns blowing at 6 this morning. Cool.

August 23 - Uncle Chas. funeral. Cool Rain

August 24 - Jim & Lucille got married - went to Chaille's for supper. Cool.

When I first read these entries, I thought it strange that Grandma didn't take note of the major events of that time. Nothing about the battles of World War II still raging in Europe and the Pacific. Nothing about Hiroshima and atomic bombs. What she did record were the events and circumstances of daily life - household chores, family news, health, weather - and yes, the war ended and whistles blew. And 9 days later, my parents were married.

Now that I am living in a time of war, I think I understand better why Grandma might not have filled the few lines allotted for each day with news of war. One obvious reason is that she didn't have access to the abundance - overload?! - of information that we do today: 24/7 news channels on TV with their "embedded" reporters offering instant accounts. If that isn't enough information, we can check the web pages of news organizations all over the world. But even with this kind of information at hand, I still find myself wanting to do what Grandma did - to concentrate on the stuff of ordinary life: all those kinds of small duties and entertainments which become all the more precious in times of stress and danger.

Did she think about being fortunate to be able to buy and sell a house when so many cities in Europe were bombed-out ruins? Was she thankful that she could plant a garden, can peaches and tomatoes, and dig potatoes when so many in Asia were going hungry? Did she realize how lucky she was to have her hair curled, to buy a new dress, or to take her mother to the doctor when so many women and children were refugees, sick and dying?

I am both compelled and repelled by the news of war. I want to know and yet I don't want to know. I cringe inside when I hear the explosions and see the smoke rising from bombs falling in Baghdad because it means human beings are being injured, killed, losing homes and livelihoods. Whatever the tactical gains our military achieve, they always come at the cost of lives lost, buildings destroyed and suffering multiplied.

Nor will the effects of war cease when the fighting ends, as veterans of Vietnam continue to tell me. Nightmares, flashbacks, wounded bodies, empty places, suicides, separations, lost opportunities, education, income - the impact of war will permeate every aspect of our life as a nation and citizens of the global village far into the future.

Did my grandmother feel helpless and discouraged? Or was simply the act of going about the routines of her life a way of doing something and maintaining hope for a future without war and rationing, without the painful separations of young family members being sent to battle? Is giving in to the impulse to pull the covers over our heads an act of self-preservation or despair?

War and terrorism are facts of human life; we can't turn back the clock or wave our hands and make all the current unpleasantness disappear. We can face each day and the future with hope and courage - not the courage based on our own strength but the creative power of the Holy Spirit; not the hope based on wishful thinking but the confidence based in trusting God with whom all things are possible.

With faith in God and God's future comes responsibility to respond to events with compassion and mercy. As followers of Christ we are called on to pray for our enemies as well as our friends and loved ones. We are called on to act with compassion toward all who are affected by violence - for civilians in Iraq as well as military families in the US. We are called on to seek peace and justice, to speak out, to share our resources - to find whatever ways we can to seek good and turn away from evil.

Every day we are called on to continue the often hard work of living each day, trusting that all of life is in God's hands, that each of us is embraced in God's amazing love and care, that the empty tomb on Easter is all the evidence we need that God's love is greater than any evil the world can inflict.

March 31 - Cool. Cloudy, Wrote article for church newsletter. Prayed for peace.

Walked downtown for lunch with Joyce and Becky. Sure sign of spring: Opening Day baseball games. Cubs and Cards won.

Blessings, Cathy

What's being said in your congregation as people try to cope with the concerns and emotions of these days?  Words of comfort?  Calls to action?

Please send a note, and we'll share it here!