When I woke up today, the tragedy of a tornado just a couple of miles away and an explosion in Texas filled the news on a week that started with the terrorist bombing in Boston. It has been interesting to watch the response of people toward the bombing and their refusal to stop living and stand in fear. I am told in Europe that they have adapted to terrosit threats and bombings in a way that we have been isolated from. I know that people can adjust to almost anythng but I can’t imagine living in a world that doesn’t repond with horror to bombings of innocent people. After the bombing in OKC, we have seen that the ripples of that event still have an impact of lives. Some of the first responders to that event continue to seek therapy and have suffered from PTSD. Lives were forever changed. I saw someone from NYC speaking on TV about how the bombings of the World Trade Center resulted in shaking the city into a new partnership of community. They said in the aftermath of the tragedy, the city has become a better place and people are better neighbors. They were reminded how precious life is and are kinder to each other.
It is a common question to ask “Where is God in this?” As Christians we believe that God is always present. Some people voice a theology that believes that if you are faithful enough, then nothing bad will ever happen to you. But this is problematic when you see extremely faithful people who have cancer or face a tragedy. More importantly we believe that no matter what you face, that you are not alone. This enables people of faith to face tragedy and deal with what happens in life with a sense of assurance. Faith provides strength and peace in the most awful settings. It shows itself in people who run towards an emergency, those who care for the ill, and people who reach out towards a stranger and pick up thier child and carry them to safety. It is clearly true that their is evil in our world. We see evidence of this almost every week. But it is also true that their is love, hope and peace and those are worth fighting for. They are how we see God in the midst of the unspeakable. God can work in powerful ways in the midst of the any tragedy and we have to allow that to happen. We need to be open in our darkest times to the transformative power that God has. It makes all the difference.
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