I like things wrapped up in neat little bows. I like happy endings. For the most part I don't enjoy the ambiguous ending or even one where the villain pays and that is the end. I am not a fan of tragedy. But, God likes all manner of stories, it seems to me and some of them are horror stories or tragedies. Some stories seem to have endless amounts of pain and very little redeeming joy and happiness, some real life stories.
When I was less than one year old, but already born, my family suffered a huge loss. My grandpa's brother (in his 50s) and his son (in his 30s with a pregnant wife and a couple of tiny children) were electrocuted in a farm accident. The farm implement hit a high voltage line that was too low and both were killed. Burned beyond recognition. In fact, the pregnant wife was one of the first on the scene and had to call someone to come put the fire out that was still her husband burning. Imagine living through that? Then a neighbor woman suddenly died of a heart attack in the family's kitchen as they prepared the food for the funeral luncheon a few days later. That family lost a father, only son, and neighbor in the space of less than a week. It was surely a tragedy and it is hard to find God's love and mercy in the middle of the situation.
But, the family was able to survive and move on. There was a shadow. The young widow remarried and the children were adopted by a new father and the family name was lost, because he was the only son. Nobody sued anybody and got rich. Maybe the electric company worked to improve their service to farms because of that incident. I don't know. The widow of my great uncle died in her 80s and lived a happy life I think. His daughters also lived good long lives.
I was recently talking about this tragedy with my second cousin. He knew a lot more details than I had ever been told. I left thinking about it. Life is a mystery. There are some terrible tragedies that happen like that farm accident. i can't believe that God was punishing or teaching a lesson. It was just one of those things. It was a reminder to treasure each day and love and make life as fruitful and joyous as possible, because tragedies happen and we can't predict or prevent them. All we can do is be who we are called to be. Be the people of the Lord. And that is triumph.
When I was less than one year old, but already born, my family suffered a huge loss. My grandpa's brother (in his 50s) and his son (in his 30s with a pregnant wife and a couple of tiny children) were electrocuted in a farm accident. The farm implement hit a high voltage line that was too low and both were killed. Burned beyond recognition. In fact, the pregnant wife was one of the first on the scene and had to call someone to come put the fire out that was still her husband burning. Imagine living through that? Then a neighbor woman suddenly died of a heart attack in the family's kitchen as they prepared the food for the funeral luncheon a few days later. That family lost a father, only son, and neighbor in the space of less than a week. It was surely a tragedy and it is hard to find God's love and mercy in the middle of the situation.
But, the family was able to survive and move on. There was a shadow. The young widow remarried and the children were adopted by a new father and the family name was lost, because he was the only son. Nobody sued anybody and got rich. Maybe the electric company worked to improve their service to farms because of that incident. I don't know. The widow of my great uncle died in her 80s and lived a happy life I think. His daughters also lived good long lives.
I was recently talking about this tragedy with my second cousin. He knew a lot more details than I had ever been told. I left thinking about it. Life is a mystery. There are some terrible tragedies that happen like that farm accident. i can't believe that God was punishing or teaching a lesson. It was just one of those things. It was a reminder to treasure each day and love and make life as fruitful and joyous as possible, because tragedies happen and we can't predict or prevent them. All we can do is be who we are called to be. Be the people of the Lord. And that is triumph.