Massacre of children leaves many asking, 'Where’s God?'

I am so tired of religious leaders taking the easy way out of saying "there is no good answer" when the worst tragedy happens. It shows they lack the ability to see God in all things including times when evil is committed. They forget that God will not interfere with man's freewill. It is up to them if they listen to His voice to do good in this world or to turn away and do evil against others.

Today we focus on the pain and the horror of so many children being killed along with innocent adults just trying to teach them so they could have a better future. That future will now include remembering this evil act, yet I refuse to ask "where was God" because I know He was there.

Some parents are holding onto their children tonight and some will thank God it wasn't them at the same time they grieve for the other parents. Some parents are waiting to be able to claim the bodies of the children they kissed goodbye this morning as they sent them off to school. Some of them are asking "where was God" and some will blame God. All of them will be searching for answers and turning to clergy for help but if they hear "there are no easy answers" their healing will not begin.

God was there when teachers risked their lives to pull children to safety. He was there when police officers rushed to the school only thinking about the kids not knowing what they were rushing into or if they would also die this day.

He was there when arms reached out to comfort and when the nation sent up prayers to heaven for strangers they would never meet. He is there when crisis responders drop whatever they were doing and rush to be there for all of those in need including the responders having to cope with seeing all the children.

God is always there when times of crisis come but we focus on the evil other people are capable of.

The gunman pulled the trigger of the guns and according to reports this far, he was shooting at random. Why he did it we may never be able to understand but even knowing why will not change the outcome. We do know that parents loved their children and their children loved them. We do know that teachers wanted to give these children a bright future as they hoped one day these children would grow up to change the world for the better. We do know that the members of the police force and emergency responders cared about the members of their community enough that they were willing to risk their lives for them. While evil did surface this day, love did as well.

If you are a member of the clergy don't give them easy answers or try to back out of giving any answers at all. They don't need you to fix them right now but help them cope with this horror and listen to them. Don't tell them one of the stupidest things I've ever heard come out of the mouth of a pastor, "God only gives us what we can handle" because when you tell them something that sickening you are telling them that God either did it to them or He allowed it to teach them a lesson. If you think that gives anyone comfort ask yourself how you'd feel hearing that. To be there for them you have to really be there for them, all of you. Your ears must listen, your heart must feel and your prayers for them must include God giving you the right words to come out your mouth to actually give some comfort to them even if it is tiny compared to the depth of their pain.

Massacre of children leaves many asking, 'Where’s God?'
By Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editors
December 14, 2012 06:17 PM ET

(CNN) – As he waited with parents who feared that their kids were among the 20 children killed at a Connecticut elementary school on Friday, Rabbi Shaul Praver said the main thing he could do for parents was to merely be present.

“It’s a terrible thing, families waiting to find out if their children made it out alive,” said Praver, who leads a synagogue in Newtown, Connecticut, and was among nine clergy gathered with parents at a firehouse near Sandy Hook Elementary School, where the shooting occurred.

“They’re going to need a lot of help,” Praver said of those who are close to the dead.

From the first moments after Friday’s massacre, which also left six adults and the shooter dead, religious leaders were among the first people to whom worried and grieving families turned for help.

Over the weekend, countless more Americans will look to clergy as they struggle to process a tragedy in which so many of the victims were children.

“Every single person who is watching the news today is asking ‘Where is God when this happens?’” says Max Lucado, a prominent Christian pastor and author based in San Antonio.

Indeed, many religious leaders on Friday stressed that the important thing is for clergy to support those who are suffering, not to rush into theological questions. A University of Connecticut professor on Friday hung up the phone when asked to discuss religious responses to suffering, saying, “This is an immense tragedy, and you want an academic speculating on the problem of evil?”

“There is no good answer at that time that anyone can hear and comprehend and take in,” said Ian T. Douglas, the bishop for the Episcopal diocese of Connecticut, referring to counseling family and friends of the dead. “They’re crying out from a place of deep pain.” read more here