Mourn With Those Who Mourn...

It is a long weekend of travel.
We are holed up in a Vegas hotel room today. The hubby and I .
Trying to rest in God, in the aftermath of this week.

It is not lost on me that my last post was a quote from C.S. Lewis.
See below...
Life changes and sometimes we are not ready.
I have lived that, many a day.

I would rather be home, lighting the advent candle this morning.
We are not gamblers, but we are here and we can still find advent, with or without candles because God is with us.

On Friday we sat in a Princeton, N.J. Library watching the horror unfold in Connecticut.
My personal world would remain intact, but my heart felt crumpled by a sledge hammer. Heavy, breath stealing emotion.
These precious babies and adults...
My husband's face turned dark. A kind soul, he was struggling with his own thoughts on this.
He still is.
He has seen enough violence and blood shed in his lifetime as a trauma surgeon in Newark.
There was never a good reason for someone coming in to his E. D. with a knife in his back or a bullet to his gut. Most were healed physically, but deep emotional wounds remained.

Our Friday plan was to take my in laws to see Lincoln. We went quietly, pondering the evil that had laid a thick coat of grief over our communities.
We watched previews that were violent and dark for 30 minutes. I leaned to my husband and mentioned the choices shown to this group of movie goers, where I seemed to be the youngest.
Surely none of us would be viewing these movies.
It seemed there was no escaping the darkness. Even in a theater that was supposed to entertain us.
That subject will be left for another post, another time.

For almost three hours we entered the world of a president who was passionate for freedom for all people. A view of the father and husband he was. Gentle, wise, passionate, unfaltering.

Again... this day showed the good mixed with the evil.
It surrounds us. We cannot escape it.

I think of my adult children.
A daughter who has chosen social work in a large city.
She visits homes where gangs are present, crime is violent and random.
I pray for her. I trust God's intervention and hand on her life.
If she was a teacher would she be safe?
Perhaps not.
Do I think she would shelter precious lives as the young teacher did in Connecticut?
Yes... a thousand times yes. And I would grieve her loss and be proud of her choice in the same breath.

I think of my son, who at 19 believes nothing can touch him. His everyday life puts him in harms way. That is the reality of a young man his age. The daily choices he makes, though not considered foolish, are still dangerous. I pray God's hand on this young man, whom I adore.

I will not try to understand this latest evil. I believe that to be a mistake. I do not want to understand something so heinous.
Instead, I will cling to my God, who hates evil and promises to comfort us in our distress.
We are told to mourn with those who mourn and that is what I shall do.
I will not try to fix this, understand this or point fingers.

Let us comfort one another today and point others to the Light of the World.
He will be our Comfort, our Healer, our Protector.