Solid Rock or Sinking Sand?


The violence continues to escalate in Afghanistan in response to a few US soldiers' inadvertent, but certainly ill-advised, burning of religious material. Reporting in the mainstream press has been guarded on these developments in terms of what they signify, but digging into reader comments sometimes reveals nuggets of wisdom.

Such was the case with yesterday's story in the New York Times about another deadly incident of violence in response to the Koran burnings. Reader William Gill of Montgomery, Ala.wrote:

"What I want to observe is this: from a purely historical perspective, it is absolutely amazing, fascinating and downright unbelievable (but true) that the ignorant actions of two or three low level servicemen (along with possibly one CO), doing a prison clean up job can (and has) completely unraveled and undone what a great power and her allies have worked at for ten years including spending somewhere around $500 to $700 Billion dollars (all borrowed), and sacrificing several thousand U.S. lives and something like 15 thousand casualties. It is absolutely astonishing. But it is real."

Might the same be true of our faith? We go to church 'religiously,' we hold dear the teachings and precepts imparted there, we may even dutifully read our Bible every day. But what a major catastrophe befalls us, do we call our faith called into question? "How could God allow this to happen?" "Does God really care about me at all?" "I prayed so hard, and then THIS?"

"Lord, keep us steadfast in your word," Martin Luther wrote nearly 500 years ago, words we continue to sing and cherish, "curb those who by deceit or sword / would wrest the kingdom from your Son ' and bring to naught all we have done."

If we return to God's Word as a deer in Psalm 42 does to the water-brooks -- eagerly, knowing that we absolutely cannot live without it as in Psalm 63 -- we will find our faith gradually, imperceptibly but steadily strengthened so that no occurrence of the world, no matter how dark, can shake our confidence in God.

"Lord Jesus Christ, your pow'r make known, / for your are Lord of lords alone; / defend your holy church, that we / may sing your praise eternally."

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