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Some (christian) thoughts on the tsunami disaster
When we went to church yesterday, there was only one topic for the sermon - and I was surprised at how well our priest managed to speak about this very, very painful topic. These are a few of the things he mentioned, those that stayed with me. They're a bit jumbled, so I apologise in advance for not making much sense.
Firstly he said that his immediate reaction was This is the worst catastrophe in my lifetime. But then he reconsidered. 20 years ago, 1 million people died in Ethiopia, not to mention the atrocities in Rwanda and other places. 55 million died in the Second World War - and that was a man-made disaster!Terrible things have happened all through history - wars, plagues, earthquakes, famine...the list is endless.
So where is God in all this? In Old Testament days, such terrors were thought to be God punishing the people's sins. Which hardly seems fair in that most victims are innocent. And I think this is one of the best things abut Christianity - that we're not being punished. God doesn't want us to suffer. Suffering just happens to be part of life. If it wasn't we'd be in heaven already. (To quote Buffy: 'The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.')
We have free will - we can choose to do good or evil. And sadly, many, many people choose the wrong path. So much of suffering is caused by humans. Natural disasters, although often overwhelming, are easier to come to terms with. And often brings out the best in people - in the UK public donations have now reached 60 million pounds. People all over the world are helping those in need. How much more we'd be able to help if so many people weren't fighting.
To end, I'll quote a piece of scripture that the priest referenced, because it fits so perfectly (1 Kings 19, 11-13).
'The LORD said to Elijah, "Go stand in front of me on the mountain, and I will pass by you." Then a very strong wind blew until it caused the mountains to fall apart and large rocks to break in front of the LORD. But the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a quiet, gentle sound. When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his coat and went out and stood at the entrance to the cave.'
This is the God I believe in - quiet and gentle. And someone who knows our suffering (although nothing will make me watch 'The Passion of The Christ'!). Hopefully we can help show him to those in need by helping them.
I hope you didn't find that too pretentious or anything... I just felt like sharing this - hopefully you didn't mind.
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