Commentary by Michael VandenBerg
Dr. James Cook, theologian, once remarked in response to question of how we handle the everyday tragedies and the extraordinary tragedies with these words; “We are masters of bringing death out of life, but only God can bring life out of death”.
As we witness the almost nightly assault on our senses, watching the evening news tell us again and again of the violence, shootings and death within the city, we find that we become each day, just a bit more desensitized to the pain. That is, until we are jarred awake by an extraordinary tragedy like 911, Oklahoma City, Columbine or so many other needless violent events. It is then that we realize just how far down the path we have traveled. We realize that we are helpless to stop the violence, end the unspeakable pain and reverse the finality of death. We go into sensory overload so our inclination is to stay desensitized to the pain.
We try to make ourselves believe that it can’t happen to us, but we know it can, and it scares us.
Jesus offers us another solution. He tells us that the answer is not to pretend that violence isn’t real, or that we are in control, or that it won’t happen to us, but to recognize that through the pain, our God still shines. God who controls, sustains, orders and redeems us also suffers, grieves, and consoles us. This same God loved us so much that He would not avoid the suffering and pain, even death, but instead showed us how to live through all of life’s pain.
Henri Nouwen, noted Catholic theologian, once said, “Remember that you are the beloved Child of God. He will be there when you make your long jump. Don’t try to grab him; He will grab you. Just stretch out your arms and hands and trust, trust, trust.”
In our broken world, we need to be re-created in God’s image and by His plan so that we can continue on, feeling the pain and experiencing the suffering yet drawing ever closer to God. We need to allow God to be the agent that brings life out of death.
Dr. Paul Brand, world famous surgeon among the lepers, when asked what he would wish most for his leper patients remarked, I would wish them pain. Leper patients feel so pain and therefore have no early warning system. It is pain that tells us that we are still alive, and it is pain that warns us that we need to make some change to our life. It is my prayer that in the midst of the violence around us that God might stir our hearts to find our solutions in Him.
