In light of yesterday's events at the Boston Marathon I found myself experiencing a variety of feelings:  shock, sadness, anger, and a kind of malaise.  It was that feeling of malaise or melancholy that intrigued me.  As a people who are becoming accustomed to events like this we can become jaded and think this is just the way we live now.  We can detach and disconnect from our feelings and even the life around us.  But yesterday was not common place.  It is not normal for bombs to explode at a seemingly safe event resulting in chaos, injury, and death.  It is not even normal for these things to happen in some far-removed middle-eastern locale.  Ours is a world broken and in our brokenness we are turning on each other and wreaking havoc; brokenness seemingly becomes perpetual.  I do not want to get used to bombings at marathons, murders in schools and at theaters, planes crashing into buildings, and families ripped apart by violence.  I do not want to accept that this is a way of life.  I do not want to become jaded to the point where I am no longer moved by the pain and suffering of those around me.  If this day should ever arrive it will be then that I will have lost my heart and in essence, my humanity.  I believe God is calling us to reach out in love, forgiveness, and reconciliation.  There is a price to be paid.  Just ask Jesus.  And the answer given might surprise us for in the answer of pain and suffering we might find hope and resurrection and even how to be human for the first time.  Don't lose heart.

Forced to be Unhappy?

     In his book, "The Holy Longing," author Ronald Rolheiser writes, "Some of Christianity's harshest critics have suggested that what is wrong with it is that it sets itself the absurd task of teaching happy people to be unhappy so that it can minister to their unhappiness."

     As far as I can tell people are unhappy for a variety of reasons.  Some of the reasons might have to do with family of origin issues, job stress, socio-economic concerns, etc.  Any one of us could probably come up with our own list personalized to our unique situation.
     What is apparent to me is that Christianity doesn't have to seek out anyone to make them unhappy in order to lead them out of their unhappiness.  We are unhappy enough!
     What the reality of living does tell me, however, is that not every day can be a pleasant one nor every illness receive a cure or even every utility bill be reasonable.  Life and living is fraught with struggle and sometimes the struggle is great.
     Perhaps the key to living a life of faith or being centered and balanced is to find that in the midst of pain and suffering, doubt and cynicism that God became a human being to bring witness to the realization that everyone has sacred worth and value regardless of one's station in life.  We are not forced into being unhappy but are given an opportunity to find hope in the midst of whatever life brings us.  We find direction.  We discover new life.  We claim true happiness.

We are together in the journey.