Grief, mercy, hope

Today I opened the newspaper and my heart was heavy.

So much grief. So much sadness.

Executions in Indonesia, continuing death-toll and the difficulty of relief in Nepal, riots in Baltimore.

Sometimes there are moments which pierce through our complacency.

These moments confront us with the shadows of our world.

We cannot hide from the pain and the grief.

The piercing comes because we feel close to the situation, even from our distance.

I did not know Myuran or Andrew, but my brother went to school with one of them.

I have never been to Nepal, but an old friend is living and working there as an Occupational Therapist.

I grew familiar with gritty Baltimore through 5 seasons of The Wire.

I grieve for loss. My heart cries out why?

I wonder, though, if we will allow ourselves to be pierced beyond the out-there of other distant places to the reality of our own Australian shadows. Will we stand for mercy and seek hope when we confronted by the hardness of our own hearts towards those we see as outsiders? Will we be strong enough to change? Will mercy and hope be themes we allow to overcome our own government policies, whether they are about climate change, indefinite detention of asylum seekers or the forced removal of First Peoples from their homes? Will compassion and second-chances be offered to our politicians if they change their hearts and policies on these issues?

We grieve today for wasted lives.

We grieve for families who mourn and suffer.

We grieve for a world marred by violence.

What hope and mercy will we allow God to grow from the place of our grief?

–Bec