My heart goes out to the people of Moore, Okla., as they rebuild lives and homes. And, my mind is reeling from the hacking of young Lee Rigby on a London street.
What is going on? Wednesday night we gathered at our church to pour our hearts out to God, to listen to his heart for the world, and to ask him to act to save, heal and redeem (paying specific attention to the folks of Moore).
We are in trouble as a human race. We need outside help. Whether the forces of nature conspire to mow us down, or the forces of evil in the human heart conspire to chop us up, we certainly need help. Help from the outside.
Facing tornadoes, we see the answer to the question “Where was God in Moore?” in the hundreds of stories of people helping each other; in the Salvation Army and Baptist Men on the scene in moments; in small graces and huge miracles; in the suffering of those who’ve lost everything. God was all over the place in Moore.
Facing terrorists on the street in London, we see the answer to “Where is God?” in the actions of a woman like Ingrid Loyau-Kennett who purposefully talked to the murderers that she might keep them occupied and thus keep other people safe. That’s putting yourself in danger to save others.
Tornadoes and terrorists are real threats in this fallen world. What are we to do?
First, let their reality remind us every day that there is evil in this world, that life is not what it should be, and that we need outside help. Let the events drive us to acknowledge our frailty and need, and cause us to search out where rescue and real life come from.
Second, since tornadoes and terrorists are random (from our perspective), let us not retreat in fear, but live in readiness. What changes do you need to take to “build a storm shelter” for life?
Do you live chronically beyond your means? Do you have a savings cushion for emergencies? Do you invest well into your spouse, children, parents, friends? Do you run and run with no margin, not stopping to enjoy the day at least once? Do you work hard to make yourself indispensable? Do you do your tasks with excellence and initiative? Do you stop to ponder life questions, and do you change your course … or do you just go back to Facebook?
You get the idea. Storm Shelter in life is a place of refuge when things go bad.
Third, we need to refrain from judging and need to judge more carefully. On the one hand, let us not judge every storm to be a tornado, or every Muslim to be a terrorist. And stop listening to radio shows or reading blogs that say Islam is a terrorist religion. It’s not. Let us learn about patterns of thunderstorms as well as the claims of Islam. What does Islam teach? Let us as religious types (you are reading a religious column after all), investigate with clarity and level-heads. Let’s see where the honest search for answers, truth and meaning takes us.
What if we, as a citizenry, grabbed hold of a search for truth and followed it, thinking long and hard about where we come from, why we are here, and where we are going?
The Rev. Jason McKnight is pastor of Grace Fellowship Church in Kinston. Reach him at Jason@gracekinston.org.