by Chaplain Kathie
Last night people went to see a movie. Last night people died because they went to that movie and so did a man with guns. We all woke up this morning in shock. We thought all the times we went to watch a movie with a bunch of strangers, never thinking anything like this could happen, but from now on last night will be on our minds the next time we go to the movies. It's human nature. It is also human nature to seek someone to blame.
The accused gunman is in police hands right now, so we assume we have someone to blame. Even with that, if you may still be needing to blame more, so you look to God to blame since He allowed it to happen. In times like this, we all ask "Where the hell was God?" "Why did He let this happen?" We also wonder if there really is a God anymore.
When we look for what was not done, we miss what was done. God does not mess with freewill no matter what. He wouldn't use his power to strike this man dead before he killed. (I will not glorify this man's name by using it.) Since God didn't stop him, we want to blame God without remembering all we do know about Him. He gave even the angels freewill, the right to make choices and yes, even the right to do horrible things but the angels remaining by God's side made the choice to stay with Him while a third of the angels decided to leave. Even God let them "live" and did not destroy them.
People are the same way. We are all able to make choices in our lives and this man made the choice to kill strangers. People he didn't know. People he didn't care about but managed somehow to hate them enough to kill them.
So where was God? Where He always is. He was there when people got away, out of danger but instead of running far away, they stopped to call for help because others were in danger or already wounded. He was there when someone stopped to help a stranger run away from evil and toward safety. There when a stranger cried for someone else. He was there people tried to comfort someone else after the danger was over, when they could have been only concerned with themselves.
God was there last night when the phone rang giving the bad news that someone is not coming back home. He was there when families rushed to the hospital to be by the side of one of the wounded. He was there when the police officers risked their lives last night and then had to get off their shift with all that pain in their souls. He was with the emergency responders and emergency room staffs when the wounded came in and they were there to help.
His love is there every time humans can show compassion in the midst of evil. He will be there as the prayers of this country join together for healing of the survivors as well as the families of the victims.
When we wonder where God was last night, He was as busy as ever every time a person did something for someone else. If you only focus on the evil that was done, that is all you'll find.
Amen...
ReplyDelete