The nation was shocked, appalled, horrified, offended, and
yes, terrorized on Monday with the bombings at the finish line of the Boston
Marathon. Constant news coverage and an
avalanche of commentary on social media dominated our lives. The incident raised questions we had put away
for a while. Why? Who?
How do we make sense of this? Are
we safe anywhere?
Worship and prayer services have been and are being
held. Flags are flying at half-mast and
dark clouds hang over our lives. It
dominates our conversations.
I didn’t want to write about it.
I wondered if that meant I was becoming calloused to these
things. Or, worse set, terrorism was
becoming part of my new normal. I didn’t
want to write about it because I have nothing new to say that hasn’t been
said. I felt speechless.
But I am writing about it because I don’t want people to
think I didn’t care, or wasn’t touched, or didn’t think it was awful, or didn’t
feel compassion for the people who were injured and for those who lost loved
ones. I do feel badly. It is terrible. Evil is pervasive. I just have nothing new to say.
Today, as I write (Thursday morning), the focus of people in the
Chicago land has changed. The Boston
tragedy has been replaced as a horrible incident by our own concern for
flooding. The city of Elmhurst floods easily, as do
surrounding communities. We had
significant rain yesterday, last night and into early this morning. Many of our families have flooded
basements. Our church building has an
inch of water in the basement.
This is how quickly things can change in life. A terrorist incident can be pushed out of
being foremost in our minds by something closer to home, the tyranny of the
urgent, or our personal crisis.
Faith carries us. We have faith in God because of God’s faithfulness. God has led, healed, and empowered people to
move on after tragedies. I have recently
watched some of the Sandy Hook parents talk about their grief and loss. They still have tears, pain, darkness and
mourning. But they also move on through faith
and communities of people.
I have faith that God will do the same following the tragedy
in Boston and the flooding in the Chicago area.
In the mean time, I remember these words from Jesus’ Sermon
on the Mount:
“Blessed are those
who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
(Matthew 5:4)
I mourn for and with those who suffer from the tragedy in
Boston and in the flooding here.
~ Rev
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