Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Out of my control

We woke up Sunday morning to find that a tree split in our back yard.  And half of it was on the roof of the house.
And somehow as I sat in the back porch in prayer and reflection it seemed like a metaphor to me.  About so much that we cannot control and need to deal with.  When I stop long enough to get in touch with how I am feeling - I realized that I am sad and grieving about what happened in Orlando.
Another mass shooting that brings up so many feelings of helplessness and anger and fear.

At the same time I am watching someone I love go through the end of a marriage and all the pain and hard decisions that follow.  And for me there is sadness, grieving and once again helplessness.

I just listened to the sonnet that Lin Manuel Miranda's sonnet from the Tony Awards

My wife’s the reason anything gets done
She nudges me towards promise by degrees
She is a perfect symphony of one
Our son is her most beautiful reprise.
We chase the melodies that seem to find us
Until they’re finished songs and start to play
When senseless acts of tragedy remind us
That nothing here is promised, not one day.
This show is proof that history remembers
We lived through times when hate and fear seemed stronger;
We rise and fall and light from dying embers, remembrances that hope and love last longer
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside.
I sing Vanessa’s symphony, Eliza tells her story
Now fill the world with music, love and pride.


And it reminds me again what i know to be true as a follower of Jesus - that we cannot control what happens in this world.  Trees fall, hate filled mad men kill, relationships fall apart but "love is love is love lis love cannot be killed or swept aside."

So we will deal with what we do not like - the aftermath of it all.   And trust that eventually there will be healing and new life that seems unimaginable today.

But for now I make plans for tree removal which in light of the horrors and sadness of others is pretty unimportant.

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