Just What Is #2069 ?

This morning I woke up to my alarm radio playing the song, “I’m Only One Step Away.” This contemporary song presents a person who is reassuring someone that he’ll be there for her, right by her side, to help face life’s challenges. While the singer boasts he’ll “save the day” and “Superman has nothing on me,” we all have limitations on how we are able to be there to support each other. As Christians, we believe it is Jesus Christ who is the one who can truly be the hero, who is there for us in all circumstances. Yet often Jesus uses us, his disciples, to be his hands of consolation and his ears of compassionate listening – to be a companion to those who are struggling.

We have heard a lot about the growing opioid epidemic plaguing our state and our nation, and the deaths from overdose has touched almost every town in our Commonwealth, including Wrentham and Plainville. When we celebrate a funeral for an overdose victim at St. Martha or St. Mary, we find that some families are hesitant to talk about the circumstances of their loved one’s death for fear of the stigma surrounding the disease of addiction. This stigma can also make it harder for those in the throes of addiction to acknowledge their disease and ask for help.

In response, the community at Trinity Episcopal in Wrentham has started a campaign to help address these concerns. You have seen the “#2069” signs around town, which represent the fact that in 2016, in the State of Massachusetts alone, 2,069 beautiful souls died as a direct result of opioid abuse and addiction. The fundamental goals of this outreach campaign are simple: to erase the stigma by increasing awareness, and to lift up all those affected in prayer. To accomplish this, they have been establishing partnerships with other churches like ours, as well as residents, businesses, and other organizations working to address this epidemic.

By partnering with this campaign as it spreads throughout our state, I hope we can do our part to be Christ’s hands of outreach and heart of compassion. May these signs and our prayers serve the purpose intended by the organizers: “They are an invitation for us all to unite as a common voice of concern, of support for those who live with or confront this epidemic every day, and a voice working to erase the stigma that surrounds those caught in the storms of addition.”

If you wish to learn more about #2069, contact the Trinity Church, Wrentham at 508-384-3958.

Save the Date: Satur day, October 28 at 10am the Trinity Church will be holding a #2069 event on Wrentham Town Common. More info to follow.