#SayThisName

Seek the welfare of the city where [you dwell], and pray to THE ONE on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare. — Jeremiah 29:7

Click here for weekly notices of homicides in the District of Columbia. (Names now appear on a separate blog for easier access for a wider range of readers.)

This listing is taken from the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department Newsroom, where homicide investigations are shared with the public. It is worth noting here that DC’s MPD shares crime news with citizens in each police district through local listservs and tailors any discussion to that specific community; they share all homicide notices, regardless of where they occur, however, with every listserv in the city. I commend this recognition of our joint citizenship. Visit MPD.dc.gov to get on your local listserv.

For years, Chris and Laura Amico maintained the powerful and useful website, Homicide Watch DC. In December 2014, the local site ceased regular publication, down when the couple moved to Boston and no one stepped up to take on their crucial work here. I am not able to continue all their work, either. But I am committed to creating a list of names that individuals and congregations can use to keep these losses in mind.

Please consider subscribing to this blog to stay up-to-date. Share your thoughts, prayers, and resources via comments or contact me about guest-blogging.

#SeekCityPeace

It has been one of my deepest prayers that we can find ways, as individuals in a divided society — and, where appropriate, in our various worship communities — to ensure that our prayers and public worship reflect the welfare of our own city, specifically, while never losing cite of our wider place as citizens of the world. One place to must start: Each of us, and all of our houses of worship must acknowledge the violent losses of its citizens, even if those lost and their primary mourners are not members of the congregation.

A prayer:

We pray for those lost recently in our town, for their families and friends, and for all affected by the act of violence.

We are stumbling and deserving of rebuke for every life lost to violence, direct or indirect, in our own town. Teach us to recognize ways in which the life of our town does not honor the humanity of all who dwell and sojourn here. Make us particularly sensitive to scourges of racism, poverty, and gun violence. Enlighten our eyes to ways more in tune with the spirit of divine love.

Keep us especially mindful: when young people suffer injustice or die in violence, it is the elders who have failed. In honor of the many who do not thrive or survive, help us redouble our prayers for justice and peace.

SeekCityPeace

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