My friend Rhonda Warren, said something in her Christmas
letter that I thought was exceptionally fine. I quote:
The thing that seems most pressing to talk about today is
how to respond to what happened yesterday in Connecticut. How do we live with
such a tragedy?
My thoughts today hinge on the idea that if God is all there
is, if God is love, and if love is all there is, then everything else is not
real. I know, I know. The bills on the desk waiting to be paid, a nagging
health issue, or, sadly, the deaths in Connecticut seem very, very
real. In the context of our earthly existence, they are real.
In the context of our spiritual existence, though, are they
more like events in the acts of a play? Are we actors and actresses living out
meaningful events that will teach us and help us to grow? Although the analogy
is hardly perfect, thinking this way helps me to feel without falling apart, to
work to understand, and to move forward with faith. Does this help you?
I choose to believe that we do have a Director, that we have
a loving God, and our purpose...in any and all roles we play, in any drama or
comedy we find ourselves in...is to love. So the answer, then, in every
situation and in every relationship, is to love. I can live with that. In fact,
I can live with that joyfully, while praying continually for the capacity and
strength to simply do it.
Lynne Adams
