Our world today seems turned upside down: forest-fires burn on the west coast, hurricane induced flooding menaces the east coast, heatwaves embroil many inhabitants’ country wide, the Covid-19 Delta strain continues its unstoppable rampage threatening some states and many school-openings while the ending of the Afghan war still causes tears and heartaches.

Many sullenly ask: Where is God in all this? Why doesn’t God help? I am a firm believer that God loves his creation passionately and would never do bad things to hurt us. Yet  when bad things do happen, it is good practice to pause and gently look into our hearts.  Is there something we need to change or simplify to make our life better than it was before this catastrophic darkness appeared?

Someone once said that sudden change in our lives can afflict the comfortable or comfort the afflicted. In other words, be afflicted by the truth revealed or comforted by a newly discovered truth. The choices are rejection or repentance.

We may ask: What marginalizing practices have we placed in our lives?  Do we still live in a world of us and them? Jesus died to make it simply us. Didn’t Jesus desire this at his last supper saying that “all may be one.”

We easily repair the damage done to property caused by natural catastrophes, but what repairs are we willing to do for our damaged heart and spirit through careless living?

It is good to remember that while we struggle with what is good on our journey, God sees the possibilities we do not always see. And God sees every one of them clearly and distinctly, nudging us gently in their direction.