Minutes of Meetings with God
and with Myself

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Tragedies ...

Recent events have worked to remind me that we human beings are an astounding, and, perhaps, unfathomable paradox. We are at once full of such vast potential, strength and creativity and, we are, at the same time, so horribly frail and vulnerable. We can accomplish some amazing feats, and we can be totally undone by small, unexpected things.

The thousands of tragedies precipitated by the September 11th hi-jackings have brought to mind another time, when security at the airports was at a different level and when tragedy had more of a "one-at-a-time" character.

My wife and I went to Detroit Metro Airport to spend some time with one of my wife's sisters who was flying from California to Pennsylvania and who had an almost 2 hour lay-over between airplanes. Just going to the airport was "a real trip," if you know what I mean. It meant finding a parking place, getting through security with two books and 4 fudge brownies we wanted to give my sister-in-law, wandering around to find the right "gate" without getting too lost or dropping over from exhaustion after walking across half the airport, desperately searching for a rest room, dodging those infernal, "Beeping" electric cars that the airlines use to ferry people between terminals (and that I can never figure out how to get a ride in), and, then, when we finally got to the right gate, trying to not be too obvious about watching people (some of whom dress and act really strangely) as they scurried around while we sat and waited for the airplane to arrive.

The airplane eventually pulled up to the gate and we had a grand reunion with my sister-in-law, Jean. The people around who were watching probably thought we were the ones acting strange. We had a chance to "catch up" on things as we went to Jean's next departure gate and waited for her next plane to leave. We gave Jean the books and the brownies. She gave us a quart or so of fresh cherries from the tree in her yard and a couple of pounds of almonds that she had picked and cracked and roasted herself. We got the better end of the exchange, just in shear quantity.

While we were talking, Jean mentioned that her daughter, sounding very upset, had phoned a few days before. The daughter's boss had just been killed in a freak accident at the Indianapolis Airport. As Jean shared the details of what had happened, I realized that I had read about it in one of the local newspapers. A businessman had been struck dead by the rotor of a corporate helicopter from which he had just stepped away.

Jean's daughter was that man's secretary and he hadn't been just any businessman. He was a multi-millionaire, vice-president of his company, one of the top ten attorneys in the nation in the field of corporate finance, 46 years old (my age), and his life had been stellar with great promise of continued success in the future. During her Thanksgiving visit with us, our niece described him as a very good man, a businessman who was at once successful and ethical, and a wonderful boss who treated those who worked for him extremely well. He was literally struck down in the prime of his life.

The man stepped away from the helicopter, turning to his left instead of to his right, and then a gust of wind forced the unpowered but still moving rotor into him, killing him instantly. It was such a sudden, horrible tragedy that seems so undeserved, so unjust. It would be different if the man had been some obviously rotten, robber baron who didn't care about anyone but himself, but this man didn't seem to have earned such an end. All he did was turn left instead of right, there was a gust of wind, and then he was dead. He was at once so full of potential, so strong, so creative and at the same time, so horribly frail and vulnerable.

When tragedies occur, our impulse is to speculate that the victims were somehow, secretly wicked and got exactly what they had coming. Indeed, there are times when bad things happen to us that we are getting exactly what we deserve. But that is not always true.

Jesus put pain, suffering and death in a different perspective:

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them?? do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." (Luke 13:1?5)

Pain, suffering and death are not something we are necessarily spared because we are good or are afflicted with because we are bad. Jesus makes it clear in these words that pain, suffering, and death are to be the occasion to turn to God, to change the direction of our lives or else our own pain, suffering and death will be meaningless, too.

The example of the Cross tells us in no uncertain terms that human beings suffer and sometimes human beings suffer terribly no matter how good they are or how much good they have done. Jesus was as good as any human being could ever be. He went around doing astonishing, good things, yet he suffered horribly and died in circumstances that showed no justice. There are times when our pain, suffering and death have nothing to do with us personally. In our pain, suffering and death, we can be victims of a plain and simple "given." Our pain, suffering, and death have more to do with the "given" of our being human than with anything else. There are those times when we suffer much, just because we are, not because we are particularly bad or have caused others to suffer.

When we turn to God and when we live in Christ, our pain, suffering and death are no longer meaningless but take on special meaning.

"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."(1 Pet 4:12?13)

When we turn to God, our pain, suffering and death take on something of the character of the pain, suffering and death of Jesus, the Christ. What was not clear at first, but what became evident through the Resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit is that Jesus's pain, suffering and death on the Cross is the stuff by which God redeems the world. And although we may only see our frailty and vulnerability now, our pain, our suffering and our death are somehow in participation with the sufferings of Christ.

God does not cause our pain, suffering and death, but they are what God continues to use to redeem the world. When Christ's glory is revealed, then we shall truly be overjoyed.