Sense to the Senseless

I tend to forget that the world is broken. That may sound strange because I am a criminologist/sociologist, and I study deviant people and behavior day in and day out. I think my constant exposure to the worst that this world has to offer only makes me more forgetful. Victims, criminals, and crimes gradually become numbers instead of people. I distance myself from the reality of the horrors of violence and hide behind statistics and theory.

And then someone detonates a bomb at the Boston Marathon and rocks the world.

I lived in Boston for 5 years and it is, in many ways, more my hometown than the place where I spent my childhood. In the wake of yesterday's events, along with millions of other people, I scrambled to reach my friends, remembering all the times we walked downtown and staked out our places along the sidelines on Marathon Monday. I sat in shock as I watched the video footage, as I saw familiar places explode.

I wanted to pray and couldn't find words. I didn't know what to ask for. I struggled to sift through my feelings and make sense of this senseless act. I was later reminded that, really, what I want and need is Jesus. Jesus comforts sadness, He heals brokenness, and He brings sense to senselessness.

This world is fallen, but we have been redeemed in Christ. This world is fallen, but it was never intended to be that way. This world is fallen, but there is hope in the knowledge that Jesus will return. As we move forward, I will remember that wholeness and healing are found in Christ. I will remember the promise of His return. I will look forward to the day when there will be no more bombings, no more sorrow, no more pain. I will remember that, someday, love will reign over all.

Are you looking to Jesus for comfort?

Today's Verses
Isaiah 61: 1-3
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners...to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.