Reacting to the Bombing

Events like last week's bombing in Boston cause all of us, Christians and non-Christians alike, to ask questions about people, motives, evil, and God. Emotionally, we as Americans joined the people of Boston in the search for the people responsible for the horrible act that caused so much death and destruction. Before we had a definite target to direct our anger towards, much of that anger was probably vented in those questions and that search.

Now, however, we have a person to be angry at; we have someone to blame for the death of children and threat to our national security. This man and his deceased brother are not pitied by America, but despised. 

It's always hard to know how to react in these situations. My first reaction as an American was, of course, anger. The threat to my country, the proximity of the bombing to my close relatives, the children and people that died and were intentionally injured were all contributors to that anger. 

A couple days after the bombing, I picked up a book that changed my perspective a little. This book, The Reagan Diaries, is a collection of President Reagan's day to day writings and journals from his terms as president. As I was reading, I reached the section where Reagan describes the day that he got shot in an assassination attempt. He's looking back on his arrival at the hospital in this excerpt: 

I focused on that tiled ceiling and prayed. But I realized I couldn't ask for God's help while at the same time I felt hatred for the mixed up young man who had shot me. Isn't that the meaning of the lost sheep? We are all God's children and therefore equally beloved by Him.
I began to pray for his soul and that he would find his way back to the fold.

His perspective amazed me. Shortly after being shot, President Reagan realized how important forgiveness was. While many of us were not directly affected by the bombings in Boston last week, we were affected because we are Americans. A challenge for us in this situation is to pray for the living man responsible for this terrible act. In fact, as a man who attends my church requested last night, let's go further and pray for all of the young men in America who are struggling with violent thoughts towards other Americans.
Praying for them though, is going to require us to put aside hatred and open ourselves to God's love. God loves them. We are called to the same.

-Meaghan

Reagan, Ronald. The Reagan Diaries . 1st ed. . New York: Harper Collins, 2007. xi . Print.

Change or Compromise? --- and the Pope

As you all know, the white smoke finally came out of the Sistine Chapel yesterday, signalling the choosing of the new pope. [and if you don't know about that... I'm concerned!]
This event has been heavily covered by news media. As is bound to happen when a new leader is appointed, analysts have been discussing whether or not Pope Francis is qualified for his new position. I've found many of these discussions very though provoking because of one concern all news analysts seem to share: Is Pope Francis going to make any changes?
An article from the USA Today quoted a professor of religion from Boston University who said that the church "needs change to survive, and it seems incapable of doing anything to ensure it's survival". He was specifically referring to the social issues, such as gay marriage and abortion, and whether or not this pope will make any changes in this area.
I found this statement extremely interesting because I believe it applies to my own life. As a Christian, it can be hard for me to live out what Christ says because it makes me different from the world around me. God has called me, as His follower, to look, act, and be different than others. This can be hard because, as a human, I want to be accepted by others. Standing out isn't comfortable.
So there's this tendency for me to want to accept this mindset of "change". That in order to make an impact on people and do ministry, I need to change to look and be like them. When that professor said that the Catholic church needed to change in order to last, he meant that the church needed to become more relevant, that they were going to lose followers if they didn't start to compromise a little on the social issues. This idea of being relevant has, I believe, infiltrated our churches in America. Youth groups especially have been the primary victim of such ideas.
I think what we often forget as Christians is that we know the truth, and the truth is something that is always relevant. What we've done in conforming our standards to attract more people to our churches is compromised on the greatest aspect of Christianity and its message. Instead of giving people the truth that they're searching for, we're giving them the same things that they already have, just with the word "Jesus" plastered on the front.
What's encouraged me tremendously is the realization that Jesus and his disciples were some of the most radical people of their time. They didn't do things the way that everyone else were doing them. Yes, they had knowledge about the culture they were living in [which I believe is extremely healthy], but they didn't lower themselves to the standards that culture was upholding. God's calling for me isn't to change to be like the world, but to change that world.
There's also difference in changing for the better and compromise. When you feel like you're beginning to change in some areas of life, pray about it. Are you compromising? Or are you conforming to God's image for you?
Remember, people, like the professor, will say that we need to become more like everyone else, but what they don't realize is that we don't need social reform to last, we need the truth. And if you're a Christian, you have that truth, which is more valuable than any kind of acceptance from others.
I'm not sure what choices the Pope will make, and frankly, it won't affect me. But I hope that, for the sake of the truth, he doesn't compromise as the rest of the world believes he needs to.

"God Knows" by Minnie Louise Haskins

Just thought I'd share this beautiful poem with you all. Giving God everything can be both releasing and scary, but it is best. :)

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

So heart be still:
What need our little life
Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.

God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.

Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures
Our mind shall fill.