Rest in Peace, Gideon

After a long day at work yesterday, I logged into my email shortly before 8pm to check messages and learned the shocking news that my friend, Gideon Addington, had died. A prayer service had been hastily scheduled for 8:30 pm on Twitter by the online Urban Abbey community.

Minutes later, I was "at" that service. I was physically and literally at home, of course, but mentally and spiritually I was with my online friends, mourning our mutual loss. It was a powerful experience, equal to any I have had "in real life," or IRL, as it is called nowadays. It helped, as only prayer can, to begin to cope with our loss.

Right now, I have very little in the way of words. I knew Gideon only as an online friend and colleague, but he touched my life deeply and will be terribly missed. Perhaps I will be able to write more later, when I've had time to reflect. My friend Josh has written a beautiful post about all this - please take a moment to read it. If you knew Gideon or want to post a prayer or your thoughts, a site has been set up for that.

Rest in peace, Gideon.