Wednesday, June 15, 2005
TRAGEDY AND FIRE...BUT GOD IS THERE
By Larry Davies
The shrill wail of the fire engine sirens pierced the early morning air on Election Day several years ago as we stood outside a local voting area to help a church member running for the office of Commonwealth's Attorney. As the ambulance and two fire engines sped by it seemed obvious they were heading for a neighborhood where many of our church members lived, so I ran to the car and followed the rescue vehicles to find a catastrophe too horrible, to ever forget.
The flames were still leaping from the windows of the small house as firemen and police officers scurried in every direction. A young couple with three small children lived inside. A fireman ran out of the house towards the waiting ambulance clutching one of the children. Another child was already inside the vehicle along with his mother. The third child, a baby was still inside the house.
As the ambulance sped away with sirens blaring toward the nearby hospital, I followed knowing my place needed to be with the family. I found the young mother by herself in the waiting room and sat with her. We helped her contact the husband who had gone to work earlier that morning. During that time, a doctor solemnly informed her of the loss of their baby who died at the scene. Thirty minutes later a nurse came to break the news that her next youngest son also died.
The mother then pleaded with us to see her child. We were walked down the hall into the bay of the emergency room. The curtain was drawn to give us privacy. The mother tenderly picked up her little boy who merely looked asleep and soothingly cradled him in her arms as she began to sing his favorite lullaby. The nurse, crying, ran out of the room, but the mother seemed oblivious to all of us as she combed her child's hair with her fingers and continued quietly singing.
Where was God during this awful tragedy?
There is no easy answer but I found comfort in Isaiah: "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you." (43:1) God was with them within a matter of hours as people throughout the community gathered to pray for the family as well as donate needed food, clothing and money.
"When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown!" (43:2) God was there as our church reached out to coordinate community relief efforts and help the family find a new place to live. Furniture was donated along with money given toward a scholarship fund for the surviving son.
"When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you." (43:2) God was with us all later that day when at the request of the family I went back to the charred ruins of their house looking for anything that might have survived the awful fire. Everything was totally destroyed except for one object found in the living room amidst a smoldering pile of ashes. What I found was a family Bible lying on the floor: A Bible that survived the heat of that awful fire in nearly perfect condition. How is that possible? I really don't know.
"For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." (43:1-3) I don't always understand why tragedies have to occur the way they do but I do know God is always there.
One Sunday, the mother and her surviving child attended our church for the first time. During the service she became flustered and confused trying to read the unfamiliar bulletin and keep the hymn book open while trying to hold her hyperactive son still. I cringed for her dilemma but could think of no way to step down from the front to help her. Just then, a kind older woman near the back of the sanctuary stood and quietly moved forward to sit with the family and assist them.
Is this a perfect ending to the story? No, but life seldom supplies perfect endings, which is why we must understand that even in the midst of tragedy…God will always be there! "When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you."
The shrill wail of the fire engine sirens pierced the early morning air on Election Day several years ago as we stood outside a local voting area to help a church member running for the office of Commonwealth's Attorney. As the ambulance and two fire engines sped by it seemed obvious they were heading for a neighborhood where many of our church members lived, so I ran to the car and followed the rescue vehicles to find a catastrophe too horrible, to ever forget.
The flames were still leaping from the windows of the small house as firemen and police officers scurried in every direction. A young couple with three small children lived inside. A fireman ran out of the house towards the waiting ambulance clutching one of the children. Another child was already inside the vehicle along with his mother. The third child, a baby was still inside the house.
As the ambulance sped away with sirens blaring toward the nearby hospital, I followed knowing my place needed to be with the family. I found the young mother by herself in the waiting room and sat with her. We helped her contact the husband who had gone to work earlier that morning. During that time, a doctor solemnly informed her of the loss of their baby who died at the scene. Thirty minutes later a nurse came to break the news that her next youngest son also died.
The mother then pleaded with us to see her child. We were walked down the hall into the bay of the emergency room. The curtain was drawn to give us privacy. The mother tenderly picked up her little boy who merely looked asleep and soothingly cradled him in her arms as she began to sing his favorite lullaby. The nurse, crying, ran out of the room, but the mother seemed oblivious to all of us as she combed her child's hair with her fingers and continued quietly singing.
Where was God during this awful tragedy?
There is no easy answer but I found comfort in Isaiah: "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you." (43:1) God was with them within a matter of hours as people throughout the community gathered to pray for the family as well as donate needed food, clothing and money.
"When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown!" (43:2) God was there as our church reached out to coordinate community relief efforts and help the family find a new place to live. Furniture was donated along with money given toward a scholarship fund for the surviving son.
"When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you." (43:2) God was with us all later that day when at the request of the family I went back to the charred ruins of their house looking for anything that might have survived the awful fire. Everything was totally destroyed except for one object found in the living room amidst a smoldering pile of ashes. What I found was a family Bible lying on the floor: A Bible that survived the heat of that awful fire in nearly perfect condition. How is that possible? I really don't know.
"For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." (43:1-3) I don't always understand why tragedies have to occur the way they do but I do know God is always there.
One Sunday, the mother and her surviving child attended our church for the first time. During the service she became flustered and confused trying to read the unfamiliar bulletin and keep the hymn book open while trying to hold her hyperactive son still. I cringed for her dilemma but could think of no way to step down from the front to help her. Just then, a kind older woman near the back of the sanctuary stood and quietly moved forward to sit with the family and assist them.
Is this a perfect ending to the story? No, but life seldom supplies perfect endings, which is why we must understand that even in the midst of tragedy…God will always be there! "When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you."
# posted by F O O D F O R T H O U G H T @ 3:38 PM 
