I’ve been wondering what would make me finally return, with passion, back to this website and make sure it’s at its best. In my case, two things happened: 1) I made a pledge with a friend and fellow author and 2) the CT shooting. I can honestly say that working in the news industry has its perks and its drawbacks, and following every breaking detail in the CT shooting on Friday for three hours is a definite drawback. It leaves your soul nearly empty, yet breaking…somehow you’re the person with the most information, so people come to you with their questions, bringing up the pain and hurt you’re trying desperately to push aside. Then you’re finally able to shut everything (and everyone) out for a few hours of peace and solitude…only to be forced back into the public life before you feel you’re ready.
It took all my strength to go to church yesterday; I knew people would be talking about the shooting and that’s the last thing I wanted to do on my “day off.” While I know that talking for many people is incredibly healing, sometimes you feel as though you’ve already moved on and simply don’t want to deal with it anymore… you want to get to the next step or the next thing that’s coming. That didn’t necessarily happen, though. Instead, my pastor (and friend) reminded us all that we have hope to sustain us through these earthly events… we have a Heavenly home waiting for us when we leave here… just as the CT victims had a Heavenly home to return to. And as we sang the responsive hymn, “Farther Along,” I just cried.
There will never be an answer for why the shootings happened. We may learn everything possible about the shooter, his family, his life, etc., but will it ever be enough? No. When so many people are innocently murdered, the questions never stop and the answers never suffice. BUT (and this is a big but) if we are faithful and truly believe, we can stop asking and just rest with the assurance that things will get better… and that this life is not all there is for us… We have the promise of a Heavenly home that can never fade/change/be destroyed. And that is where we can find our hope in the midst of great tragedy.
If we hold out…
If we cry out…
If we pray out…
There can be hope in the midst.
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Sami, I appreciate your words of hope. All the analysis in the world will not supply an explanation for an inexplicable, irrational event. I have to think that it was an unbridled action of Evil…and that, in the end, Good will prevail. Just as, when we hike in the Rocky Mountains–an arid, un-hospitable place in many ways — we see Life persisting from the lifeless rocks. Flowers bloom and small trees sprout in tiny depressions in the rocks. It is another example of the power of God, and it gives me hope in so many ways.
Sami, I appreciate your words of hope. All the analysis in the world will not supply an explanation for an inexplicable, irrational event. I have to think that it was an unbridled action of Evil…and that, in the end, Good will prevail. Just as, when we hike in the Rocky Mountains–an arid, un-hospitable place in many ways — we see Life persisting from the lifeless rocks. Flowers bloom and small trees sprout in tiny depressions in the rocks. It is another example of the power of God, and it gives me hope in so many ways.