ALWAYS BET ON THE dEEP sTATE:

Roughly one thousand people of various faiths and backgrounds gathered for a vigil at a church five miles north of Colleyville, Texas, on Monday evening, showing solidarity with the nearby Jewish community as it began to heal from the hostage standoff at Congregation Beth Israel 48 hours earlier. [...]

Before he began speaking, the rabbi, known in the surrounding Colleyville community for his interfaith work, noted with humor the sticky note reading "Let them see Jesus" that has always been affixed to the massive church's podium the several times over the years he's made use of it.

Cytron-Walker said the amount of "well-wishes and kindness and compassion" has been overwhelming.

He thanked those who packed the massive White Chapel Methodist Church from all over the Dallas area as well as the over 24,000 viewers on Facebook Live -- the same medium that was used by CBI to stream its Sabbath morning services and where the first three hours of Saturday's hostage standoff played out eerily for the public to watch.

"How amazing is it for us to know... that our small congregation in Colleyville, Texas, which no one had ever heard of before, [is being so] supported on this journey.

"To my CBI family," he said, again choking up, "I wish I had a magic wand. I wish I could take away all of our pain and struggle.

"I know that this violation of our spiritual home was traumatic for each and every one of us," Cytron-Walker continued. "We will take the next step. We will comfort each other."

The gathering appeared emblematic of Cytron-Walker's efforts as CBI spiritual leader. It saw him thank "religious leaders, and atheist leaders and political leaders of all parties." He could be heard telling the audience that "if you're comfortable, you can say amen," after finishing the recitation of an English prayer, determined to be inclusive to all. [...]

Imam Azhar Subedar, who's the spiritual leader of the Plano Mosque 40 miles northeast of Colleyville and is active in interfaith efforts as well, viewed his attendance at the vigil as an extension of his work.

He described his reaction as a Muslim to Saturday's standoff as "twofold."

"For us it's about the work to establish peace in the world, but at the same time, working on the people within our faith to ensure that extremist ideologies are done with," Subedar said.

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