Dear Friends,
I am writing this on the morning after the huge earthquake in Italy. As I watch on television the unfolding drama of death, damage and destruction I cannot help but be struck by the comment of one of the reporters who said that even God was missing from one of the empty villages. Given that the TV screen was showing a ruined church building and deserted streets one can understand the remark and it perhaps speaks out loud what many will think and also echo’s the question they would want to ask, “ Just where is God in all this damage and suffering?”
To begin to seek an answer to such a question may be a suitable time to reflect on the Easter message of a few weeks ago and, putting aside the commercial aspect of chocolate eggs and fluffy bunnies, really think about what Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection means to each one of us.
When Jesus was crucified on Good Friday he shouted out the same sort of question to God, his Father, “ My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” His shout of pain and anguish was not a denial of God’s existence but cry for God’s presence in his pain and suffering. And we know that, despite his question, his Father was with him because there was resurrection, new life, on Easter Sunday.
That is the assurance we have of God’s presence in our suffering times, whatever form they may take. He has been there, seen it, suffered it, and therefore knows exactly how we feel. However alone we may feel, and at times of deep suffering most of us know just how empty our lives can be, God is there to look over us and after us. The resurrection message gives us the assurance that we will be held in God’s arms now and in the future, in this world and when we travel on in our spiritual journey. That is what makes such tragedies as earthquakes and other natural disasters capable of being overcome.
It is interesting that so often the negative question is asked about God and his perceived absence at times of disaster but rarely if at all in the day to day times of normal life when we are able to see His creation and all that He provides for us in this world of His. If we are so keen on occasions of disasters to point to some indication of his possible absence it perhaps indicates how much we take for granted his very presence!
God does not turn away from us but we need from time to time to turn round towards Him. In doing so our lives can and are transformed from Good Friday darkness and despair to Easter Sunday joy and delight. Don’t take my word for it, try it for yourself!!
God bless you and all those you love,
John Baxter