When Tragedy Strikes
The Spiritual Undertones of Our Response to Violent Tragedy
My heart has been saddened due to the tragedy of violence that seems to be increasing in occurrence. It saddens me that parents have to bury their children who have been massacred, have to counsel their children who have been traumatized, and have to prepare their students for warlike emergencies. I had a conversation with my children last week on how to respond to violent scenarios. They are not ready for war but our culture is becoming more warlike than may war zones. I’m not sure any of us are ready or prepared.
We have heard many responses to the recent school shooting in Florida. We have heard much debate. My question would be what are we overlooking? Tragedy many times leads to see the exposed would but overlook the many variables. We see the result but overlook the patterns. We see the pain but overlook the journey. We see the finality but overlook the process. We feel the emotions but overlook logic.
We live in a culture where news, opinions, and emotions spread quickly. Before a situation has even ended it is on the news and people from all viewpoints are already screaming what is the cause and what is the answer. This demonstrates our lack of compassion, our lack of patience, and our lack logic. Yet, it is the times in which we live in. We have heard many opinions of why there is so much violence, particularly in schools, and who should be responsible but what we have not paid attention to is the spiritual undertones of what is going on. I would like to draw attention to the spiritual undertones that are evidenced in our response to violent tragedy.
In tragedy, we are oblivious to real evil. We have been desensitized by entertainment, media, and the news to the fact that real evil does exist. Real life is not an episode of “The Walking Dead” or the latest released horror movie. Real life does consist of evil. In history we have seen evil dictators and leaders kill millions, not hundreds, but millions of innocent people. We have seen psychopaths torture, rape, and kill innocent people for no reason at all. What is amazing is that we when we are exposed to such evil we don’t even pay attention to it. We try to discount it as mental illness, poor gun legislation, divisive politics, or any other thing we can think of besides evil.
Evil exists. Evil is not the opposite of God. Evil is the corrosion of good. God created everything to be good. Evil is like rust. If you leave a piece of pure metal outside in the elements it will begin to rust due to exposure. The metal is corroded. Evil is the rust of God’s creation. It is the elements of our free choices, selfish desires, and our brokenness that produce the corrosion of God’s goodness in the world.
In tragedy, we look for gods to worship. We turn to gods even if they are not very good ones. A god is a higher power that we place our trust and hopes in. In tragedy, it becomes very evident where people place their hopes. We have seen some people turn to prayer. We have seen some people turn to the government to solve the problem of evil. We have seen some people turn to their own pride in thinking that they would be the hero if tragedy happened around them. All three are gods. I will tell you that the government can do nothing to stop evil or violence. They may be able to place obstacles in front of evil people but they cannot and will not stop them. We, ourselves, are not very good gods. When it comes down to it you do not want to place all of your hopes upon yourself to fend off evil. For everyone is a hero until they hear gunfire, see muzzle flash, and smell gunpowder.
In tragedy, we neglect personal responsibility. We refuse to even acknowledge that our love for freedom may be our downfall. We refuse to even acknowledge that our love for violence, sex, selfishness, and self-expression may be the root of real life violence. We refuse to even acknowledge the our self-centeredness may have caused us to overlook the brokenness and hopelessness of another human being. We refuse to acknowledge that the broken family unit of our culture may be feeding the deterioration of our society. When tragedy strikes we find ways to look at others instead of our own responsibility. We look to blame others rather than to examine ourselves.
In tragedy, we look for someone or something to blame. Since tragedy is so far from our normal expectations we believe someone is to blame. We see people blame the president even though there have been other school shootings under other presidents who did not receive the blame or the stigma of being bought off by the evil NRA. We see people blaming gun laws even though more people seem to die by guns in cities with strict gun laws. We see people blaming guns even though guns are a machine that must be operated by a person. We see people blaming God even though they don’t believe in Him or want Him in their lives. It seems as if we want someone or something to blame so that we can deflect our own personal responsibilities.
In tragedy, we see what we value. It is evident with our current debate that we do not value life. We value freedom and emotions. More people die of gun violence in Chicago every week than died in the school shooting in Florida. Every week more people die car accidents than in school shootings. Every week there are more abortions than there are children killed in school shootings. Yet, in tragedy, we see that people value their emotions than they actually value life. We see that people value their own personal freedoms than they do life. We see that people value their political opinions than they do life. For example, the congresswoman who aggressively attacks the NRA and anyone who is for the 2nd Amendment as if they are responsible for killing the children in the school but is also pro-choice in regard to abortion. It is not life that is valued but freedom to choose which lives are valued that is the true value.
Evil is real. Pain is real. Tragedy is real. Suffering is real. The question is how do we respond? Do we look for the spiritual beginnings or do we look to self-made idols of politics, media, and religion to perpetuate our pattern? All evil begins in us. We will start with ourselves or will we point it out in others? Will we use tragedy as a catalyst for personal and cultural revival or will we move on after the emotions wear off until the next tragedy? What if this opportunity to for us to draw our attention to God, to increase our love for others, and to move forward in His mission?