The last three weeks have been brutal. Starting with the Minnesota Catholic school shooting in late August, followed by the horrific stabbing of a young lady in North Carolina, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and several school shootings – it has been a tragic and emotionally exhausting time. Some people can shrug off tragedy that doesn’t affect them personally, but we as a country have experienced far too many in a short period of time lately. I really wasn’t prepared to also remember 9-11 just one day after Kirk’s death. It added another layer of sadness to the grief I already felt.

How are you doing and what are you doing to get through your days? Did you watch any of the Charlie Kirk Memorial service televised yesterday, September 21? It felt like salve to an open wound, especially the music and worship by the overflow crowd. Songs of praise to God and remembering a life lived for Him reminded me that in the end, God is in control of it all. When I don’t understand and the “whys” are too many, I have to trust in my Heavenly Father’s nature and remember how good He is.

It still hurts to see what is happening in my country and around the world. Then I consider what the Bible says: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and the spiritual force of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12). We are in a spiritual battle daily, and must choose which side we’re going to be on – God’s side or the world’s side, which is evil. Jesus told us to love in order to overcome hate. The most overwhelming example of that premise for me came yesterday as I watched Kirk’s widow, Erica, address the tens of thousands of people at State Farm stadium and tell them, “My husband, Charlie, wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life. I forgive him because it is what Christ did. The answer to hate is not hate.”

What a difficult thing for her to do, but it was such a merciful action filled with grace and a lesson to all of us. May we choose God’s way to overcome the darkness of this world.

God bless – Sue