by Rev. Eric Folkerth

Here at Kessler Park, we were all deeply troubled by the recent hostage situation at Beth Israel Jewish Center in Colleyville. I know you were quite relieved that all hostages escaped safely. 

Even as we continue to learn more about this situation, I wanted to write today about it because there are so many intersecting issues related to faith and public life that flow out of an event like this. I would also refer you to a link in our newsletter this week which leads to a statement from our Bishop.

I hope you will continue to join me in prayer for our Jewish siblings in faith. These kinds of incidents of violence against synagogues and Jewish houses of worship have become far too familiar in modern times.

I am grateful for the work of my dear friend, Rabbi Andrew Paley. Andrew is the leader of our Faith Forward, Dallas interfaith clergy group, but he is also a trained police chaplain. I’ve heard him speak about this work many times.

He provided truly important on-the-ground assistance in Colleyville during this incident.

This violence against faith communities must always be condemned in the strongest terms possible. I do so here today.

I hope you took notice of the comments of Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, the faith leaders of Beth Israel, and his comments immediately afterward. He was asked how he dealt with this situation.

He responded: We trained for it.

This is a troubling truth in our modern times of which you may not be aware. The reality is that many faith leaders and congregations are training their worship leaders and ushers on precisely how they might respond to potential acts of violence and terror. Because, in houses of worship of many faiths, such incidents appear to be on the rise.

We have had some of these conversations at KPUMC, for example, in our pre-pandemic time. And in the past, I’ve been in worship services where we had to have plain-clothed DPD officers present at a time of a specific high threat.

I share this to note this sad development for you and to assure you that many of your Dallas faith leaders have concern about these issues every week.

Houses of worship should be the kinds of places where we can truly let our guard down, to leave behind our worries and cares and focus on God and our gathered communities. But perhaps precisely because of this, worship services can be especially vulnerable places. 

Rabbi Cytron-Walker also noted that he was trained in being “a non-anxious presence.” That is a phrase well known to many clergy today.

Clergy learn and we are trained to understand (or at least we should be) that our own anxiety can infect others. If parishioners and worshippers “read” a sense of fear in our faces and our actions, that fear can infect everyone.

Words and actions actually *do* matter, especially when they are spoken by those purporting to lead others, whether they be preachers, politicians, or high school principals. Anyone in any kind of leadership has a greater burden of responsibility to ensure that their words are not unduly provocative or spread fear.

You’ve heard me say before that this is part of why I have the words “Fear Not” tattooed on my forearm. It’s from a line in the Gospel of Luke in the 2nd chapter, the Christmas story:

“The angel said unto them, ‘Fear Not…’”

It’s a reminder for me to check my own fears and to also remember that how I share my fear with others can affect their actions too.

I hope that if you are in positions of leadership in your life —in your worship community, your business, your family— that you will prayerfully consider how to maintain a “non-anxious presence.”

Finally, as I unpack this event, I am troubled by the words of some television commentators immediately after the release of the hostages. I know where their own emotion came from, but it landed poorly to me.

They talked about the resolution being “hopeful” and “a happy ending.”

I know what they meant, I really do. But I’m not sure I can call it a “happy” ending.
A safe ending, yes. 
But “happy?”

I mean…
… A congregation was held hostage; terrorized for hours.
…The hostage taker was killed, no doubt leaving a grieving family. 
… A fear of copycat antisemitic acts now stays with us
… As does a fear among innocent Muslim friends, who are concerned about their safety.

I’d hardly call the result “happy,” even as we are all grateful and relieved.

Ironically, it is faith itself that can help us deal with all of this. True faith lessens our fears and reminds us not to “Otherize” entire populations by race or religion. True faith understands that we must first look inward to our own hearts and seek a purity of intention and action there.

Yes, by all means we must condemn “bad” actions —and I hope you’ve heard me do this here— but we must also understand just how closely all humans live with each other now. Targeting any individual because of their race or religion runs counter to my faith and, as I understand it, the faith of all the world’s great religions. And I know it does for you too. 

Pray for our entire community. But especially today, I ask you to pray for those recovering from this trauma, for religious leaders everywhere who deal with these issues, and for all those who seek to reduce fear among God’s children.

This Sunday in worship, we will be citing the words of Dr. Martin Luther King. At a prayer service in Colleyville, Rabbi Cytron-Walker also quoted Dr. King in a closing thought that I trust you all share with me:

“Without love, there's no reason to know anyone. For love will in the end connect us to our neighbors, our children and our hearts.”

This is the deep wisdom we must all embrace.