The earthquake in southern Turkey and northern Syria in the early morning hours last Monday was devastating, and the resulting images have been horrific. It is hard to grasp the level of destruction caused by the earthquake, and the toll in human lives had topped 21,000 by the middle of the week. The stories coming out of the region are filled with heartbreak as people search for survivors and heroism as amazing rescues take place. 

Our hearts and prayers go out to the millions of people affected by this natural disaster. 

I've done a little extra soul-searching this week as I try to process this news. We're nearly immune these days to stories of the inhumanity that people inflict on each other, but to my sensibilities this is different: a random act of the natural world, turned against people, causing inconceivable suffering. 

It is this way in every natural disaster, be it a hurricane in the southern US or a tsunami in Oceania. And I find myself asking a lot of questions of God. Questions like "Why does this happen?" and "Where is God in all of this?"

And the truthful response? A full explanation eludes me. Just like I can't comprehend the vastness of God, or the depth of God's goodness, I also cannot fully understand suffering. Theologian Karl Rahner said that our inability to comprehend suffering is part of the incomprehensibility of God. 

I don't think, though, that that it is bad to ask questions and seek answers, because that very journey helps to deepen our belief. Although I cannot understand the reasons for suffering, whether they be a sick friend or a distant disaster, I can see God at work in the response. I see God at work in the rescue workers. I see God at work in the millions of people reaching out with donations of money and goods. I see God at work in the community that comforts the mourners and buries the dead. 

Spiritual author Dom Quaglia puts it this way:

I’ve come to believe that there’s nothing going on in our lives that God isn’t planning to work into a blessing or planning to bring good out of.  But there are times where you and I have to trust that God is writing a much bigger story than you or I can see. The pages of this book stretch across the universe, and we only get to see bits and pieces. Like in any story worth reading, there are moments of joy and moments of suffering. I don’t know why bad things happen, but ...  if God permits something, He plans to bring a greater good out of it. All that you and I can do is trust.

Please continue to pray for all those suffering because of natural disasters around the world, especially in Turkey and Syria, and be God at work to help relieve the suffering of people in our community.

God bless,

-Deacon Mark

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