A Distant Grief
I am reading a book called, A Distant Grief. I was written by F. Kefa Sempangi. I am on page three and have already been busy using my highlighter and dialoging passionately with my husband about the words on the page before me. I feel as if I am having a cup of coffee with the author, he is talking calmly and confidently meanwhile my mind is being blown as I attempt to act non-challant at our table.
He writes about the reign of terror under Idi Amin in Uganda, about the church, about light diminishing darkness. What he says entirely I do not know yet as again I am on page three.
Many of us are sitting in our living rooms thinking about the people in China that have endured the earthquakes and aftershocks. We think of the people of Myanmar who have endured the recent cyclone. These two events alone have resulted in hundreds of thousands of people finding themselves in the midst of great loss and uncertainty, of pain and poverty, of disease and displacement.
Then there are those living all around us who are homeless, hungry, lost. There are people in the Sudan, Chechnya, Congo to name a few that are experiencing torture. There are children growing up not knowing what safety and security are like, entire generations being raised in nothing but bloodshed.
Within our communities there is human trafficking, child abuse, domestic violence.
We read beautiful books such as, The Kite Runner, and are deeply touched by the stories of those that have endured oppression. I watched the movie with my husband. When we turned it off I sobbed and sobbed. “This type of horror is happening to people in our world, honey.” I kept crying until finally it was time to move on.
But, that last statement right there is what keeps bugging me. “Time to move on….” when exactly is that? My heart tells me that it is never time to move on.
So, why is it that we do move on? That we turn our eyes onto our own agendas?
That we spend our money on fleeting fashion rather than helping our starving brothers? That we stay quiet rather than advocating for those that are not being heard? That we ignore what is truly going on around us?
Sempangi writes, ” In that moment I learned a new truth. I learned that just as there is a boundary beyond which human beings cannot comprehend the glory of God, so there is a boundary beyond which they cannot comprehend the evil in this world. There is a boundary beyond which everything is a senseless chasm. It is here in the nightmare of utter chaos that human feeling dies. It is here, where death and terror seem to have full dominion, that even the deepest sorrow becomes but a distant grief.”
I like this. It makes sense to me. If I could comprehend the glory of God in it’s fullness then I would have to turn the TV off. I think if I truly could comprehend all of God’s glory then I have to admit I would be a little crazy in my efforts to praise Him. Just the same, if I truly could comprehend the plights facing my fellow human beings, my brothers and sisters in Christ, on a daily basis I do not think I could function as a normal person. I think I would be a little crazy in my efforts to help them.
But, I have to ask…what is wrong with being a little crazy? Just because we can not comprehend his full glory does not mean that his Glory does not exsist. In fact, we miss out when we ignore it. Just because we can not comprehend all the pain and darkness going on around us does not mean it does not exsist.
There is grief around us. There is a need for Light to shine and take over the darkness. We are to be that Light. Turn off your TV, turn away from the computer, do what you must to help those that need help.
May the Glory of God shine on you as you shine Light on the darkness!
