The Paris Terror

When terror strikes and screens scream dire reports of brutal and seemingly senseless attacks on humanity, my heart usually heads in one of two directions:

1. turn it off — the screen and my heart. Just make.it.go.away.
2. crawl under my covers and succumb to the deep sorrow and confusion.

I’ve learned about myself that I’m fairly sensitive to news and get overwhelmed easily. I’ve also learned that there are healthier options than the basic ostrich maneuver. For me, heading to Scripture and to sturdy theological thought leaders brings comfort and courage for engaging the ravages of evil.

Here are four resources that have helped me process the Paris Terrorist Attack over the last few days.

1. Learning a little more about ISIS, jihad, and “caliphate” (a word I’d never heard before but my husband kept saying to me as if it was part of our everyday vocabulary). This helpful article by Don Carter really lays it out in a clear way that even I could comprehend:

Article about the Islamic State

2. Remembering the essence,complexity, and craziness of sin. I actually skimmed back through much of one of my favorite books this morning: Cornelius Plantinga’s Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin. It’s a pretty heavy read, so I’m going to give you just one quote and recommend the book to you as a thorough examination of sin, corruption, evil, and its workings in our hearts and in the world.

“…even when sin is depressingly familiar, it is never normal. It is finally unknown, irrational, alien. Sin is always a departure from the norm and is assessed accordingly. Sin is deviant and perverse, an injustice or inequity or ingratitude. Sin in the Exodus literature is disorder and disobedience. Sin is faithlessness, lawlessness, godlessness….Sinful human life is a caricature of proper human life.” (Plantinga, p. 88).

3. Reading the words and prayers of a woman who knew suffering. Amy Carmichael, the missionary to India who lived much of her life suffering from chronic illness, always invites me to wrestle and rest with God over sorrow and suffering. Here is a brief excerpt from her book Rose from Brier.

“Lord, is all well? Oh, tell me; is all well?
No voice of man can reassure the soul
When over it the waves and billows roll;
His words are like the tinkling of a bell.
Do Thou speak. Is all well?

Across the turmoil of the wind and sea,
But as it seems from somewhere near to me,
A voice I know: child, look at Calvary;
By the merits of my blood, all is well.”

4. Last, but most certainly not least, Scripture and a prayer. From Scotty Smith, who daily shares prayers that help us grapple with who God is in the midst of everyday life.

     At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, And he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” Dan. 4:34-35

     Dear heavenly Father, I need to “bookmark” this passage and return to it often, for it doesn’t just tell the conversion story of a pagan King; it’s the ongoing story of my heart. Your sovereignty is our sanity; your rule is our rest; your dominion is our delight. Navel-gazing and circumstance watching, and talk-radio-fixating and political-pundit-feasting never serve us well. Scotty Smith  Read the rest of the prayer here.

What about you? What helps you process the unsettling news of recent days?