Hope. [when tragedy strikes]

It's amazing to see the compassion in everyone's hearts after the events of yesterday, but is there more we can do aside from posting a status about our shock and sentiments?
Sometimes it's difficult to know how to respond to such abhorrent tragedies, but Rene Schlaepfer said something really profound last night that has stuck in my head.

In answer to the question of how to react to the events of yesterday he said

"Don't respond to hate with hate; respond with Love. 

Don't respond to despair with despair; respond with Hope."

I think it's often tempting to give into fear and despair because we think that this is how we are supposed to respond. We think that if we aren't feeling the hopelessness the people there are feeling then we aren't compassionate enough. 
But how wrong is that? 
We should ache in empathy for those who are hurting,  but true compassion is accompanied with action. True compassion lasts. I urge us all to realize that the immediate support response has been overwhelming, but the real need will come in the days, months, and years ahead. There will be a time when everyone else forgets, but the parents are still living without their children. The children will still live with the horrific memories. The community will still live in shock and bewilderment at the evil that entered their town.

As CNN states, it seems, "The overwhelming sentiment: Hug your kids closely."
Really? That's it? All we can do is appreciate those we love because we never know when they will be snatched from us?
Is there not more hope than that? Did not Jesus come for the very purpose of healing and freedom? 
Healing from broken hearts. Healing memories. Setting people free from the past. Setting people free from horrors that bind them to regret, fear, and despair. 

As Christians we have something to offer those in Connecticut.
"The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16b) 

Let's not forget that we can intercede on behalf of the victims of this evil.
Let's not forget that there is Hope!
Let's not forget that Jesus redeems the unredeemable.
Let's not forget that Jesus heals the unhealable.
Let's not forget that we have a part to play in that healing.
Our prayers and thoughts of empathy need to not end when we are able to brush past our thoughts of this horror.
It is our responsibility as those who know the Hope to help provide the Hope.

So in this tragedy and all others like it, I challenge all of you who serve our King:
Don't forget; don't despair. 
Instead remember; instead bring Hope. 
Take action: PRAY! 
Pray that the hope and restoration that you have found will become real to the people of Connecticut. 
Pray that the love and healing that you know to be real will be poured over the people of Connecticut. 
Pray and don't stop. 
My prayer is that I will not forget. 
My prayer is that God will continue to bring these people to our hearts and minds in the days to come when the horror and pain sink in for those directly touched by the evil while everyone else moves on.






.

Time. [scattered thoughts in the midst of finals]

As a 5th year college senior, sometimes I wonder about the purpose of time.
They say, "Time is money."
But what if that changed?
What if in this world time did not matter?
Think of the people we would be--no longer sleep deprived because an alarm to awaken us unnaturally would not be needed.
Think of the backs that would lose all the tension and the brains that ache no longer mentioned because the stress would be alleviated.
No more deadlines. No more time crunch.
No more pressure to quicken the pace.
Late would be a foreign concept.
Early wouldn't exist either.
What if time wasn't money?
What if?
Let's bring time back to being just a way to mark our place but nothing more.
What if our world operated in a way that valued time spent as it was happening instead of only valuing the time that is to come or the time that has passed?
Time is a gift.
We can enjoy anticipation or we can run right by it.
We can stop and smell the metaphorical roses or we can live our lives like bare-feet on hot coals, racing through just trying not to fall.
We hurt ourselves.
They say we forfeit years of life for minutes of worry.
We end up losing the very time we try so hard to gain.
And to what end?
Did we enjoy our time?
What if time were just a word and not money?
What if...