12th
my reflections on tragedy
This Sunday we heard about preventing a tragic end, spiritually speaking. Taking lesson from the history of ancient Israel, whose blatant rebellion against God lead them to be attacked and overtaken by Assyria.
Amidst the instructions to seek God’s will, to be on God’s side, and to pay attention to warning signs, was the final idea that God never abandons His people. Even though you may be going through something tragic right now, God has tnot abandoned you. You are not as far away as you think.
It came to mind that sometimes God may allow tragedy, in fact if it is a consequence of our own behaviour He must allow it. Our actions are not without consequence, and if they lead to spiritual bankruptcy then that’s where we’ll end up.
More difficult to reconcile is the fact that tragedy sometimes happens despite our most earnest and heartfelt attempts to stay on God’s side. A tragic turn of events can befall the most faithful individual.
Under such circumstances we must not blame ourselves, for what were we to do? Nor can we blame God, who is not the author or designer of these tragedies. If a child falls and scrapes her knee, her father comes and picks her up off the ground and hugs her. He tends to her scrape, then bandages it, and sends her on her way again, back to her adventure. So too does God pick us up, hug us, bandage our wounds, and sends us onwards to complete the next phase of our journey.
