I finally pause and reflect. There is so much in the news. Just this week, two bombs went off as friends, family and strangers cheered men and women to the finish of a race that pushed their limits. Lives and limbs and expectations were lost and lives are forever not the same because of that day and the chaotic days that followed in the Boston area. And then, two days later a Texas town blew up. Just, blew up. An accident, that turns out really was someone's "fault" because they stored too much of a dangerous thing. And abortion is debated in court and marriage is debated in courts and congresses around the world. And then half the world away China is shaken by a huge earthquake. And there are flooding and avalanches. And we ask, "What is going on?" and "What can we do?"
And an uncle calls his nephews losers. And runners keep running to give blood from their trembling, exhausted bodies. And brave men and women run TOWARDS the chaos. And first responders drive from all over Texas to help the little town ravaged. And a mom blogs about redefining safe, because to her that's the only way to keep her kids safe -- is to have it mean something completely different.
A week of horrors. Of tears. Of pain. And yet it is also far away. I have laughed and run and played with my boys. I have enjoyed time with friends. Rejoiced over good news. And wondered how to hold tight to those moments.
The truth is though, we can't hold those tight, outside of our memories. We are not guaranteed a life where no evil touches it. We can never keep a promise to keep our kids safe. We live in a world hurtling towards a finish. God created a beautiful, good world. But His first children made a choice to try to live as their own gods, and humanity has continued to make that choice day after day. God allows Satan to have influence and humans to make a choice to pursue God or elevate ourselves. So the world is broken. We are broken. And we cannot keep the bad things from happening.
So, what can we do?
We can seek hope. We can bring hope. We can live hope.
It occurred to me to ask, as I watched the Governor and the President speak at the interfaith service in honor of the victims of the Boston Marathon, in a country where so many don't believe in a God, don't have a faith, and want nothing of faith involved in civic matters, why are these interfaith services such a common practice when tragedy and loss strike us (whether intended or accidental)? Here's why:
Jennifer Dunphy, outside the memorial service: "I guess I'm just looking for ... maybe some peace, some understanding, something, a little bit of hope." From this article
Because it is faith that gives us peace. It is faith that gives us, in time, a little understanding. And most importantly, it is faith that provides us a little bit of hope. Because when we live with faith, we know we are not in control. We know it's okay -- and in fact so much better that -- we are not in control. We know that God will win and evil will be conquered. One day. And until that day, as we look to the end, we accept the reality that living life must include risk. That the world is not safe and God didn't promise us it would be. But He is with us through it. He is working through it. And He is bringing this world to the finish -- the good finish when His creation is redeemed!
