“Banishing the Darkness: Where Do We Go From Here?” was recently published on Huffington Post – take a look.
Twice this week I have watched with horror the Twitter feed, Facebook status updates and live online reporting of events that exposed the rampant evil in our world. Shootings at Clackamas Town Center in Portland. Massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. Twice have I allowed myself to cry tears of pain, anguish, and despair. Twice have I uttered aloud, “Lord have mercy.” Innumerable times have I sought words to respond.
My pastor friend AJ Swoboda concluded: I’m sorry, but if we don’t believe evil exists after today, we are a blind people.
It’s true. This week we have seen the face of evil, without its usual veil of deception.
The evil this week was also personal. I have shirt-tail connections to both of these places. Portland is where I attend seminary, and often I have visited Clackamas Town Center during my Face-to-Face time in Portland each semester. Newtown is just down the road from Danbury where my dad was born, and the school was where my friend’s cousin and another friend’s granddaughter attend. But the connections aren’t the reason for the tears. Not really.
If we’re honest, we all have connections to these places and these people. The victims, and yes even the murderers, are part of us. We’re in the same clan of humanity. They are – we are – all made in the image of God, struggling to muddle through this often difficult, fearful, hurtful existence called life. We have so deviated from the plan and will of God, and evil’s ugly presence and reality perplexes, plagues and persecutes us relentlessly.
And we’re left reeling. Numb. Horrified. Sickened. Lost.
My Facebook feed since the horrific events has featured an odd mix of prayers and political positions bantered about. Ban guns. Arm teachers. God wasn’t there because he’s been “banned” from school. This was God’s judgment upon our nation.
Diametrically opposed opinions, yes. Yet, each opinion represents shared hope and desire to right the wrongs that kill, maim, and attack the innocent. Together we long for answers and solutions. We know in our hearts this isn’t how life should be.
We are numb. Horrified. Sickened. Lost. But, we shall not be without hope. Darkness has dominated these days. Yet the light of love shines brighter. Propose solutions, yes. But also listen and join hands with those who propose solutions exactly opposite to your own. We cannot, in our attempt to bring resolution, create increased strife, hatred and darkness, thereby adding to that which we long to banish. Our goals are the same. We face – together – the same enemy and it is not those with whom we disagree.
Beyond the solutions, be a blindingly brilliant source of light. Banish the darkness in all ways you can, in all places you go, in all relationships you have. Love. Forgive. Smile. Hug. Engage. Demonstrate hope in tangible ways. Let no one be exempt from the reach of your love.
And, know that you are not alone in your struggles against darkness and evil. You do not stand alone in your fear, despair and pain. Nor did the innocent victims of this week’s events. God – who called himself Emmanuel – God With Us – is indeed with us. He longs to comfort and restore hope in your own heart and in the world. These tragedies are not of him or his will. May you be encouraged and comforted in these words of truth in “You Were There” as performed by Libera.
You Were There
You were there
In everything I knew
From the moment I began
Always there
In every way I go
Saved me falling
Held my hand
You are shelter from the storm
The shadows fade away
All cares pass away
Hosanna, day by day
Your love lightens up the sky
As it shines across the night
Ave, regina caelorum decora
Virgo gloriosa, ave!
And when the end of day is come
Stay with me through the dark
And bring me home
You are there
Whichever way I go
Keep me safely night and day
Always there
Whenever I’m alone
Hear me calling
Show the way
You are shelter from the storm
The shadows fade away
All cares pass away
Hosanna, day by day
Your love lightens up the sky
As it shines across the night
Ave, regina caelorum decora
Virgo gloriosa, ave!
And when the end of day is come
Stay with me through the dark
And bring me home
Stay with me through the dark
And bring me home
