In OUR world
planes are shot out of the skies,
people are slaughtered in church sanctuaries,
murdered are innocent lives by blasted bombs in marketplaces,
concert halls and movie theaters turn into bloodied slaying fields
AND I want to turn my head
AND I want to close my eyes
AND I want to write about beauty, peace and love.
In the mayhem of massacres I fight the detonation of my own fears.
This global wave of terrorism, tries to seep terror into my
faith and my family.
BUT
when I look at the faces and hear their stories
I see courage.
I hear sacrifice.
The one holding her breathe among the breathless
rises and gets comforted.
Strangers comfort strangers.
Good rises out of the carnage.
Because if it doesn't they win
They think they won with their own lost lives
but in the lives lost and in those who get to wake up the next day
life is celebrated and what we have and had is remembered and cherished.
We all need to look at the beauty that rises out of the ashes of tragedy.
If grief clouds that vision than grief needs space to do it's sacred work,
but for the rest of us
that face of beauty needs to be sought in the One whose example of true sacrifice brings life,
not death.
This week your life, my life could change in the blink of an eye
just like we witnessed for hundred's of people around the world in the last few months.
Join me in seeking the face of God and His mercy for our world,
join me in listening to the stories where good grows out of evil intent.
Join me in giving thanks for the moments we have right now
and giving the glory to the God who gave us those moments
and whose face we will all see when He calls us Home in His timing.
Love, Rachael
1. Why do you think I would show you this video?
2. Do you think anything like this was happening in Paris last Friday?
Quietly I give thanks for that.