In the days following a life changing event you cannot help but wonder about the why and how leading up to the event along with what comes next. It is easy to let the frustration and anger overwhelm. The rationalization creeps through the mind, looking to explain, seeking to pull things down into a level of comprehension and understanding. With a conclusion begins a recycling of the doubts, fears, and confusion that began the reflection. Why do these types of things happen? Who is at fault? Who should pay the price?
The need for vengeance and fault finding is almost overwhelming. For those not impacted, numbness seems to be the most common state of being. How to move on? Where is there real hope? What can we do?
Talking with one living in the zone deep in New York provides insight. Everyone can see the holocaust of what is left. What cannot be seen is the response of those who live there.
“People were wondering around dazed and lost. We did not know what to do, so we did our best to help everyone we could.”
I am proud to know people who stand and stand firm. I am honored that I am able to call people who in the midst of a terrible calamity think of what they can do to help others first, and deal with their own lives when that task is exhausted.
Life is a mess, no questions. Families are disintegrating before our eyes. Bigotry runs rampant even in quarters of people crossing racial boundaries. Violence targets innocent people, giving them no warning or time to prepare. The fact is that “you can’t find firm footing in a swamp, but life rooted in God stands firm.” (Proverbs 12.3)
Today we face tragedy all around us. I see hope at every corner. People are reaching out to help others in New York, London, Amsterdam, through emails and phone calls, and a myriad of other ways. Life is full of sin, yet today I see grace. Grace wins, tragedy will not overwhelm!
