My guess is most of us are ready for this week to come to an end already.  Turning on the news is a dangerous proposition at this point.  Just when reporting on the Boston bombing couldn't get more surreal comes the story of a huge explosion around Waco.  This is just turning out to be a not very good week in our world.  We should try to keep in mind that life is seldom if ever totally good or bad.  Our tendency is to think in all or nothing terms.  No wonder we struggle so often with life and faith.  Being able to see the good in a bad time is a learned art.  Being able to recognize what may be bad during a positive period is essential to remaining grounded.  We live with the twin realities of the eternal and the earthly.  Let us discover how to handle that tension. 

Getting to talk to your favorite daughter who is in Europe is a good way to keep life in perspective.  She returns in just over a week but she won't be the same daughter who left back in January.  It does make your day to see that phone number come up on your screen.  It also helps when your heart doctor gives you a clean bill of health.  Just getting to this point seemed impossible when the journey began back in November.  My improvement is fairly drastic for the condition they diagnosed.  Humility and gratitude are the first two reactions that come to my mind.  The last three years have two separate experiences of God doing a good work in my conditions.  God does do good work even in bad times.  Part of it depends on trusting Him for whatever the outcome.  Being joyful cannot depend on how well we feel.  Real joy is knowing God regardless of our situation.

Such words are not easy to express.  You see victims of the bombing struggling with what happened.  Those are real people whose lives will never be the same through no fault of their own.  Parents will not see a child again.  Adults face losing limbs with the effects on their work life much less just healing.  The stories we view on the news did not happen to "other people."  They are a reality in ways we probably cannot ever imagine.  I have a few stories that are similar but nowhere near as public.  Part of this job is dealing with situations that cannot be easily put into words.  Ministry is not always for those with weak stomachs.  Isn't that like life in general?  Thank goodness these times are not constant usually.  That doesn't mean they hurt less when they occur.

Times like these will come to an end.  The lingering issue is not when will it end but who will we become by our faith?  We have to make that call.

Bro. Trey