I just don't understand — and I probably never will

Once again we face great evil, this time in the slayings at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. I wonder at my own simplicity as each time something horrific like this happens, my first thought is, "What is wrong with this person (perpetrator)?"

I really cannot understand.

Again it leads to serious questions of the sort we have seen throughout the Old Testament in particular as the people tried to make sense of evil, turning to God for answers that often were not forthcoming.

Just like people through the ages, maybe God can see the causes of evil, but we usually can't. Even when we can see an ostensible cause, it is often incomprehensible. The one thing we don't have over these situations is control. Of course, understanding and control are what we'd like because then we could possibly head these things off. Stop the evil, heal the potential perpetrators, save the victims.

But here we are in the imperfect world where we are often buffeted by chaos. Jesus' death on the cross shows he understands our pain and bewilderment and suffering more than we know ... and that he can use it to bring about victory over evil.

But, that's hard to see from our human standpoint.

So what do we do?

We help directly if we can.

We pray, always. For the souls of the victims, for their families and friends in the midst of shock and grief, and even for human soul who did evil's work. (That last is a hard one, but necessary for my own soul. I don't know how God metes out justice but I know that I'd be terrible at it. So that prayer is necessary for me to be able to trust God with it.)

We live our own lives fully and with confidence in Christ and for Christ. Every ripple for good we make in our own bit of the world helps Jesus enter the world with healing, making lives whole again. And it helps defeat evil.

Saint Michael Archangel,
defend us in battle,
be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil;
may God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God, cast into hell
Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.