God in Horror

"In a world plagued with commonplace tragedies, only one thing exists that truly has the power to save lives, and that is love."

                                                                                      ~ Richelle E. Goodrich


I recently saw on social media a veteran with a sign posted in his yard saying He was a combat vet, and asking those who used fireworks to be considerate.

Courtesy of Military with PTSD

I think any reasonable person in this day and age can understand such a request; unfortunately, 40 years ago when our Vietnam Vets returned few took the toll of vicious, modern warfare into account. 
Even today, there are vets from past wars who are still affected by the tragedies of the past.

By now, I imagine any person who has wanted has seen 'Saving Private Ryan' or 'Full Metal Jacket' or 'Band of Brothers.'
Each in their own right give a glimpse of war and the horrors that come with man killing man; combat, suicide, loyalty, terror - each of these are part of the larger picture we call War.

The Real Band of Brothers

Yet, while these movies or even some TV shows have elements of truth within them, the general public will never understand like the ones who have experienced it for themselves.

Silently in my mind, I argue that those who truly suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) aren't incurably sick, nor are they in need of some drastic measures.

I know many combat veterans read this blog; so, just think about this for a minute. Just think of what we have been through, what we've seen, what we've experienced and the people whom we have know that didn't come home from 'over there.'
After some of the things that we've witnessed, who wouldn't feet some type of trauma and stress.

It is for this reason I believe that PTSD is actually a sign of life and health, not a disorder and the people who have it are totally mislabeled.
You see, the man or woman with PTSD is acting in their 'new normal' trying to make it all fit back together again; the depression or erratic behavior is a coping mechanism - meaning they are trying to adjust and get better within themselves. 
Like Christ with the sinner, be patient, compassionate and kind and you will go far in helping them.

Generally speaking, we can indeed sympathize and have compassion, seeking to understand when war is involved in our tragedies; yet, there are others we may never understand.
Are we to blame the Newtown shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary simply on mental illness?
What about the Boston Marathon bombing? Do we answer it is radical ideology and nothing else?
With Columbine, are we to blame bad or negligent parenting?
Or Jonesboro, Ark; the Twin Towers or any other tragedy...how do we respond?

Are we to blame or point the finger at anyone or anything?

With natural disasters which destroy indiscriminately, we tend to classify them as 'acts of God.'
The scale of any of the above disasters does not change the underlying issues of suffering, evil in the world or death on our planet.
Instead, we know these disasters and tragedies concentrate the misery we already know; magnifying it to a larger scale. 

For those in a tragedy, a tragedy at any level no matter how minor or major, sympathy and solidarity usually follows among those involved.
The "formula" type answers that ministers are taught to give do not work in such situations.
There is no carbon copy theology that fits; and there is no guidebook for ministers either. 

It does not help to point to someone with a worse condition; are we to compare the evil that was Joseph Stalin to the Recklessness of the Titanic's captain?

While the pain may be equal and the loss just as tragic, these two do not easily intersect.

The point of the suffering for the minister or the Christian is not the degree or level of suffering; it is that there are individual people who hurt.
All pain is pain - and all pain summons the same questions of faith.

We want to know why God permits such things?

When the Virginia Tech shootings took place, I had returned to West Virginia Tech campus to play a supporting role on stage for a few nights.
Each night, I walked out on the stage before the show, welcomed the audience and led them in a prayer for the families of the victims and the student body at Virginia Tech.

04 May 1970 - Kent State University

At the time I heard someone, most likely an erroneous reporter, state that the shooting was the worst school shooting in history. 
I thought, 'Really?' Worse than Kent State?

The truth is neither is worse, they are just different; each of the people who died were individuals, not a group of people existing for the institutions. 
They were men and women who lived and died in their prime; dying in senseless, tragic acts.


A few years later, I heard the same phrase uttered about Sandy Hook.
It was 'the worst school shooting in history...'
I thought, 'really?'
That's when I found that the actual 'worst school shooting in history;' which took place in Bath Township, Michigan, 18 May 1927.
The man who committed the act was defeated in a local election; taking his wrath out on the

'Crater of Death' at Bath School

elementary school he killed 38 children, 6 adults and injured 58 others. He also ended his own life.

Again, these people weren't a group; they were individuals, innocent children, who made up the group and do not deserve to be classified in our minds any more than  those who suffer today need to be classified into a sterile, nicely packaged group.

You see, when we suffer, we suffer alone; becoming islands.
But we need each other; whether we realize it or not.

And we wonder, how can God allow such things, or how to even make sense of tragedy?

While I don't have all the answers, I do have my own personal experience and have been intimately involved in the suffering, death and dying of others - I can tell you only what I have learned.

Pain, as I see it, is a sign of life and love; not necessarily an enemy.
Therefore, when people are hurting from whatever has called pain in their life and they attempt to numb it through drugs or alcohol, they have committed a grand injustice to the soul.
We must never fail to realize, not even God exempted Himself from human pain.

Yet, in our tragedies as Jesus experienced them in the Gospels - He never once stopped everyone and sermonized about the coming judgment or our need to repent because that was what the cause of the pain originated from.
Nor to Jesus ever tell people that they needed to simply accept God's punishment for their sin

Staff Sgt. Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. 

and suffer gracefully; in our time, we'd tell people to "suck it up."
No, we shouldn't respond in that manner; Jesus didn't - He responded with compassion and mercy.

But why are things like they are?
Why do we suffer so greatly at times?
Well, there are only partial hints in Scripture; though the answer is not complete, I found comfort when I was sick in the fact that God knows how we feel because He has felt pain and suffered.

And because God knows how I feel; I too, in this area, know how God feels.
We can say this and know this because God gave us Himself in flesh; a face, a man - one with tears that leaked from His eyes when joyful, when compassionate and when He personally suffered.

Suffering, Pain and Tragedy are unavoidable in our lives; yet, I do know in this mystery they can only be examined in the context of religious faith if a person is wanting to discover a deeper meaning.
You never hear anyone speak the following in the midst of a tragedy:
                                "You're shocked and upset? Why? What else should 
                                 you expect but pain and tragedy? That's what we get 
                                 from an impersonal universe of chance and random 
                                 indifference. Nature is cruel, therefore the cruelty generally 
                                 strikes us all."

That's real comforting, isn't it? 
Actually, it borders on moronic; that being true, why would anyone trust those who teach such a philosophy. If it cannot answer the question of pain and suffering, it cannot be valid in times of rejoicing in our lives either.
It would be equally as false to one set of circumstances as the other.
But I digress.

Well, obviously that's not the answer God wants us to have; so what does He want us to know about those horrifying times?
In my experience, many times when we enter a time of suffering, God will answer loudly....with pure Silence.

And friend, that can be hard at times.

God has never addressed the question of 'why.'
Maybe it is due to the fact that we can learn so much from His silence.
For it is in His silence that God does not reveal His plans to you and I; God reveals Himself.
And in a time of tragedy, we don't need answers - we need the Lord more than ever.

God bless the combat vet and those who suffer without scars.
Enjoy the Fourth - it was earned and renewed occasionally at a very heavy price.

Until next time, Win one for the Good guys.