A time of weeping. Who would have thought that during the
time of Jesus’ birth that Herod, the furious king who had been outwitted, would
have all of the boys (2 years old and under) around the vicinity of Bethlehem
killed?
A time
of weeping. Who would have thought in a Connecticut elementary school a week before Christmas
that a troubled and disturbed young man would kill 20 six and seven year olds
in their classroom?
Yes, a
time of weeping. A time of weeping for the parents, for the relatives, for the
friends, for the adults, for the teachers, for the community, for the state,
for the nation.
A time
of weeping because evil is present. Sometimes evil is present in proportions
that our human mind can hardly fathom. It is at those moments that it seems
nothing can really console, nothing can really soothe the pain, there is no
balm for the soul.
A time
of weeping, a time of lament. When Herod did the unthinkable, he also created
the un-consolable. Listen to how Matthew in his gospel records this…
“A
voice is heard in Ramah,
Weeping
and great mourning,
Rachel
weeping for her children
And
refusing to be comforted,
Because
they are no more” (Matthew 2:18).
The human condition of unconscionable acts perpetrated upon
innocent people could not have been painted any more poignantly. “Because they are
no more.” A vacancy left. A hole in the heart. A vacuum of presence.
Two
huge things make a difference for the Christian in this painful moment: God
suffers with the children and parents, and evil will not prevail. Only God can
provide the kind of comfort that such a bruised heart needs. Since He is the
God of all comfort, He alone can walk with us in the mourning of our
lamentations and accept the meaning of our groans. Let us collectively pray for
the “Rachels” who are weeping for their children and refuse to be comforted
because they are no more.
In Christian love, Curtis
