In times of trial

Over the past several months there have been a couple of extremely disturbing situations arise in the community I live. First, a young man raped and killed his wife’s sister and her unborn baby. Second, a young divorced father abducted his children. This past week the children and father were found, miles away, dead in an apparent murder/suicide. And today the young man pled guilty and was sentenced to fifty years in prison.

These two tragedies have had a profound impact on our community. There has been an outpouring of emotion on both ends of the spectrum from compassion and concern to sadness and anger. The papers are filled with coverage of these stories and everyone has an opinion about the reasons why.

The truth is there is no good answer for why these tragedies occurred. Angry young men who felt they could no longer deal with the pressures of society? A failed judicial system? Inadequate protections afforded those who lost their lives?

In the midst of the finger pointing and blame game there is a certain sense of uneasiness. After all this is your typical small Midwestern community. By and large we are a community of good, moral and faithful people. A community where we look out for our neighbors and have always felt safe and somewhat insulated from the hardness of the outside world.

The truth as evidenced by these recent acts is we are not immune from the pressures of those things which the country and world-at-large face every day. It is in how we deal which these kinds of events which marks us as community.

Over the past several weeks we have seen friends and strangers come to the aid and support of these families. Local churches have opened their doors for prayer services and time of healing and people with no connection to the families have provided support. Ribbons have been tied, fliers distributed, posters made and tokens of affection left on children’s desks.

Both of these tragedies beg for us to grasp something we cannot comprehend. We look to our faith and our God to bring comfort to us and to those left behind. We pray for healing for a family and a community and we ask God to continue to show his unconditional love to all of us. It is in Him we are able to move forward, find solace, and are comforted. It is in him those responsible for these acts will meet their final judgment and it is in him we can live in the knowledge that there is a hopeful future. May God bless us all.