For Slinger, Hartford, and all who mourn and weep

As I sat down to write a devotion this morning, my mind kept getting drawn back to words I wrote back in 2012 after the school shooting at Sandy Hook in Newtown, CT. As I think about Jose and his family, Mason and his family, and the families of Hartford who may have narrowly missed tragedy today, these words are all there is; may the promises of God hold you today. (Below is an edited version of that old devotion):

NO WORDS

There are no words today.
There are tears, and silence, and extra hugs.
There are screams, and confusion, and pain.
There are nightmares, and questions, and fists shaken to the sky.

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken us?
Why are you so far from helping us?" (Psalm 22:1)

But there are no words...at least no words that satisfy.
No words that fix.
No words that explain.

But...
There is love.

There is always love.

You want a messy and imperfect summary of the Bible? There it is.
There is always love.

From prophets to preachers to a child in the manger to a rolled away stone...
the Bible bears witness to a God whose love breaks through, somehow, every time.

This week, it showed up in a million moments that didn't make the news; in teachers that cared, in parents that held their children close, in a sanctuary full on Monday night to pray for a beloved student.

It's a messy love, one soiled in the evils we create, but it is there.
Imperfectly.
Imperceptibly sometimes.
But it is there.

And it will keep being there, no matter how much we try to bury it with pain.
Don't take my word for it - or my words. Those fail right now.
But these promises don't fail:

"...the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart..." (Deutereonomy 30:14)

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life...nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ..." (Romans 8:38-39)

"...love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave." (Song of Songs 8:6)

"...God is love." (1 John 4:8)

So now what?
Our response to heartbreak is always varied.

Some of us will want to keep our eyes close and pretend this never happened.
It's OK to feel that.
Love can open eyes when it's time.

Some of us will need to wail and shed tears.
It's OK to feel that.
Love can calm the fears and tears when it's time.

Some of us will bravely face it all, doing so to be a strong rock for others.
It's OK to do that.
Love can use even our facade of courage.

And, some of us...many of us, I suspect...will simply hang our heads under the weight of this all.
It's OK to do that, too...
because Love has a funny way of raising our heads to greet even the faintest traces of a new dawn.

There might not be words, or answers, or any sense of justice, fairness, or reason...
But there is love.
There is always love.

Today, and in the days beyond, may we all rest in that fierce, messy, persistent love that will not let the world go.
And may we do whatever we can to reflect that love toward those who need it most.

The Light shines in the darkness...and the darkness will never overcome it..