We know

that God is light and in him there is no darkness.

Tragedy is full of darkness.

We know

that God is love and his love is kind. An airplane crash

is no kind thing. We can only imagine the thoughts of

passengers and crew as the plane nose-dived. Only imagine

what John F. Kennedy Jr. was thinking as he piloted his

plane into the Atlantic Ocean with wife and sister-in-law

on board.

As much as

we want to "fix" everything; insure that no

plane will ever crash; make sure that no child ever will

be killed in an automobile or stroller accident, it

happens. We live in a dangerous world. The Wright

Brothers invented a killer machine as well as Henry Ford.

We live in an incompleted world. Hurricanes. Mud slides.

Volcanoes. Floods. The "tragic" dwindling

numbers of the spotted owl. Man's inhumanity to man. As

the bumper sticker reminded us, "stuff

happens." So, when I stubbed my toe as a child, I

cried, "Mama." The answer somehow to my pain

and suffering was a person, someone who loved me and

could help me deal with the pain. Did Mama ever move back

the hand of time so as to erase the stubbed toe? No. She

simply took care of it as it was in all its ugliness.

Now, please

don't think I think a stubbed toe is anything like an

airplane disaster. But the answer may be alike. We cry

out, "God help me!" Maybe we are not at the

stage of asking why, but we want some comfort in our pain

and suffering.

The miracle

of God is that God shows up when life breaks down. Is it

his fault that life and engines break down? No! No! No!

Even when it's not his fault, he comes to the scene and

does a totally new, redemptive, caring thing.

Sit back

and watch. Watch God break through so much that the media

must report it.

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