Broken

June 18, 2015

A gifted, authentic evangelist I watched a bit in my twenties made this observation:  "When you are a Christian, your heart will break at the things that break the heart of Jesus."

We are all guilty of breaking the heart of God, and we are flawed, damaged human beings dependent on the grace of God to repair the breaks. At least I am.

God may not differentiate the severity of sins, but it is especially hard for me to resist that human need to scale wrongdoing. It's those actions filled with malice toward God and toward others that I find the most heartbreaking. As I've watched this horror unfold in Charleston, with innocents gunned down in cold blood while at church, my heart cracks open.

9/11, Columbine, Sandy Hook, Oklahoma City, the Germanwings flight...the list is long of moments like this. The hatred and the heartbreak are palpable. The greater tragedy, of course, is if our grief returns hate. So, what is there to do? "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be the sons of your Father in heaven..." (Matthew 5:44-45). I imagine, though, that Charleston struggles with that today and maybe forever. It's fine to read it and believe it, it's another to live it.

The search for answers and justice will persist here on earth. But in the heaven on which I rest my faith, those victims are victims no more.