Weekend tragedy - five, and now six, teenage lives lost needlessly. First, the shock, and now the anger, spreads throughout the close knit small town. Many ask the question, why could this be allowed to happen? Why should they die, and their killer - a drunk man, driving with his child on his lap - live? The danger period is not yet over, physical scars still threatening fragile lives, and emotional ones running still deeper, and lasting far longer.
I was fortunate not to be on shift when this happened, but far away in Melbourne, meeting the students I will be tutoring this year. The hospital had been packed, a kind of controlled chaos, taxing on all involved - doctors, nurses, ambulance, not least the victims and their families.
Whenever a tragedy like this hits, it is a sobering reminder of how small we are in the universe. Without warning, lives are taken away, and it could happen to anyone at any time - yet the universe continues on its course, predominantly unfazed by the transition of a speck of life (of light, of hope, of love) into eternal disappearance. We are made to feel so insignificant, yet our feelings are so great and true, that we cannot reconcile our existence with such an abrupt destiny. Can it be that life exists no more, beyond death?
Call it my stubborn denial, or refusal, or whatever - but God's message is a reassuring reminder to me that, in death, we are joined in heavenly reunion with our Creator. And this, I hope and pray, is the destiny of those who died on the weekend. Jesus died, but He also rose again from the grave to appear before at least 5,000 individuals after His death, in one of the best documented controversies of ancient history. In Christ, we have hope in this world, and much more - we have a certain future with God. Only in His love can we rest peacefully tonight.
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On a much brighter note - I received Sal's Valentine's card yesterday, so cute, so beautiful! Despite our distance, it's so awesome that love refuses to be bound by physical constraints. Thanks for all your love, ladybug!
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