Pastor's Message
February 2010 - Spirit Steps
For the past couple of weeks, we have been bombarded with images from Haiti. It is difficult for me to even imagine attempting to cope with the loss and pain so many thousands of my sisters and brothers have to deal with in the aftermath of such a devastating earthquake. I now often find myself comparing my life’s difficulties or the difficulties of those around me with the incredible horror that many in Haiti have to deal with.
On the one hand, this kind of comparison may help to keep things in perspective; however, on the other hand, tragedy is tragedy, hurt is hurt, loss is loss. If parents lose a child in an auto accident would they be any less grief stricken than parents who lose a child in a bus accident in which 30 other children are killed? Tragedy, loss, pain are all very personal and they are felt very personally.
Earthquakes occur in all our lives. They may not occur in the form of an actual shaking of the earth, but everyone will experience the shaking of their lives in the form of some loss, or pain, or disruption, that shakes us to the very core of our being. One of the lessons that we might learn from the earthquake in Haiti is that the amount of damage and loss of life in an earthquake is in direct proportion to the quality of the infrastructure that is in place at the time of the quake. In that Haiti is one of the poorest nations, most of the buildings were not strong enough to survive an earthquake of such magnitude.
Earthquakes are bad things that happen to good people. Whether our personal earthquake is the form of the death of a loved one, a serious illness, the loss of a relationship, a job loss, an addiction, etc. the principle is the same. The amount of devastation is in direct proportion to the quality if the spiritual infrastructure that is in place at the time of the quake.
In the Christian faith, we believe in a God that is a personal God. Not a God who is at our beckon call, always ready to snatch us from the jaws of danger, but a God who is always with us in times of joy as well as times of deep tragedy. We believe in a God who knows us by name, and assures us that we belong to God.
It is upon that solid foundation that we can begin to build an infrastructure that, although it may be shaken, can withstand the strongest of earthquakes. It is upon that solid foundation that we can build relationships with others that will strengthen their spiritual and emotional infrastructure as well as ours, creating a solid community of people that can live in peace and security.
May you be at peace.
Pastor Bob