Reflections on a Bloody Season

Every Day is A Precious Gift

'Tis the season of suicidal, mass murderers.  The latest is the murder of hundreds in Sri Lanka, mostly Christians, gathering together to worship God and His Christ on Easter Sunday morning.  In this case, the perps have been declared to be Islamists.

In New Zealand just over a month ago, there were 50 dead at the hands of one murderer.  The dead were Muslims, peacefully gathered for religious services on a Friday morning.  The perp was a solitary malefactor, twisted into such a mess that he (apparently) believed murdering Islamic men, women and children was somehow a righteous thing to do.  In his case, he believed he had a bunch of  anonymous cheerleaders on the dark web who would celebrate his courageous deeds.

It seems reasonable to expect that within another few weeks there will be another mass killing of innocents at the hands of vulpine murderers.  'Tis the season.

Secularists and atheists appear to join with every body else in condemning such an evil.  We are not sure why since their secularist religion has no ultimate truth--no "Thou shalt not kill".  As Sartre once put it, if the existentialist is driving down the road and a pedestrian steps out in front, it is an entirely neutral or irrelevant as to whether the existentialist chooses to avoid the pedestrian or accelerates to run him over.  When there is no ultimate meaning, life is cheap.  Thus the recent mass murderers have displayed their faith.

Because Christians believe and trust the Living God, every life is sacrosanct.  Every life reflects and bears the image of  God Himself.  The Christian will never accept the casual amorality of the existentialist.  But Christians are not reduced to despair, either.  For we believe God has permitted all these evils to come to pass.  Our responsibility is to "keep the faith", keep trusting, keep believing because in His time, all will be restored to perfection.

Thus, the Christian steps off the porch into a new day.  There is no certainty whether he  or she will return home at night.  There is no certainty that we will not be killed as we turn the next corner.  But, because we trust in the love of the Everlasting God, we remain confident and filled with hope.  All things work together for our good--even the hard and difficult providences.  That is why there is so much music and joyful singing--both in the biblical Psalter and in our services of worship.  That is why we Christians are merry warriors.

The recent spate of random mass murders serve to remind us of these fundamental Christian truths and our undying hope.  They draw us closer to God and make us more reliant upon Him.  They help prevent us taking His great mercies for granted.  'Tis the season.