144 - For the Survivors

There are times, when people share their stories with me, that I am without words. There are situations that are so difficult, they are beyond my imagining. It is then that I offer what small gestures of comfort that I can.

This poignant email came this week:
“Last Wednesday each of us took home a psalm
Last Wednesday

No one will ever forget the mother’s cry Last Sunday
Can there ever be healing for the loss of a child of twenty?

What answer is there to the why such a tragedy.
To the parents, we can say nothing What can we say to the young who were her friends and now ask what who is this God that does such a thing?”

The God I believe in does not cause tragedies. These events happen in our imperfect world. Rather, God is there to help us find healing despite the terrible events that confront us. God offers us tools to cope and to survive.

One Hundred Forty-Four

For the Survivors

Strong and Mighty Tree,
You sound the closing bell, Holy One,
Ringing through time to reshape the future.
Life changing, shattering,
Dreams and hopes are revised in an instant.

Unleash the tears and anger
As I offer them to You,
As You take them for healings’ sake,
Someday transforming them to peace.

Untie me from bitterness,
From thoughts of should-have-been;
Let me find strength in Your unchanging concern,
And take succor from the constancy of Your care.