My mother and I went to the airport this evening to pick up a neighbor of hers. This neighbor had just been to visit her parents in West Virginia for the past two weeks. As would be expected, our conversation drifted to talk of last week's coal mining tragedy. As the three of us compared various news stories we had heard and read, we all agreed how difficult the whole thing has been for the families involved.
I've been wondering this past week, what such a tragic unfolding of events would have done to me, had I had a loved one in that mine last week. It's easy to glibly quote Paul, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances," when our circumstances don't test our faith quite like last week's story from the mine. In keeping with the comments I made last week about thanking God even in times of difficulty, here's an excerpt from a recent Christianity Today article.
Augustine of Hippo witnessed much sorrow. After the Goths ravaged Rome in 410, many complained that Christian faith had weakened the empire. In his great defense of Christianity, City of God, Augustine argues that faith in Jesus weathers the temporary triumphs and tragedies of this world. "If God did not bestow [the good things of life] with patent liberality on some who ask him, we could possibly argue that such things did not depend on his power. On the other hand, if he lavished them on all who asked, we might have the impression that God is to be served only for the gifts he bestows."
To read the entire article, go here.
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