The serenity of watching autumn unfolds and then is shattered by news of another horrifying deliberate slaughter. This time in Paris . . . again.
It’s hard to write anything that makes sense when the wider world makes no sense. What are others saying about the Paris attack? Reading comes before writing — I’ve integrated some links to writers whose counsel is steadying me.
What points us to a path on which we may retain our balance in rocky times? Reading history, literature, embracing art and music, we may gain understanding of our times, and times past; only Scripture gives help to stand and walk.
True to your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction. (Psalm 23:3, The Message)
We have plunged into another war – a stranger more brutal war than we have known. (Civilization Under Siege)
I was born the year after Hiroshima . . . and grew up unaware of the perils of the “Cold War” that raged. Korea did not intrude in my bubble; Vietnam did. But still, I did not understand the evil of how so few could wreck so much.
Then more evil pressed in – Cambodia, the Middle East . . . troubles local, national and international and trouble even with the church . . . I still don’t fully understand how so few can wreck so much – but now I believe – evil is real, powerful, and unpredictably predictable. (1 Peter 5:8)
We are alive, gentle reader, this morning because of God’s mercy when so many people are losing their lives. What do we do with the time granted us?
I want the pulse God grants me today to beat with a purpose and a prayer. God, keep me from being overcome with fear, lest I quail and resist service.
I believe I need to know the truth about those who claim responsibility for the attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015. I hope you will click through, dear reader, and read 9 Things You Should Know About Islamic State
Paul, who lived through times akin to our own wrote: Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good. (Romans 12:21)
Tim Keller gives us the first and best tool to conquer: Pray and pray a lot. Especially when you don’t feel like praying at all.
So what do you do when the hurt of the world is too much to bear? You put your head down and pray so deeply it hurts. And then you go to work doing what you know you’re called to do for the day, because you are not the Saviour, you are only the saved and that by grace alone. (For You in the Trenches)
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