Evil is real.....but so is God

As much as I comment on spree killings committed with firearms, I'm never desensitized to the carnage and its aftermath. But when such an incident essentially happens in my backyard, I'm equal parts devastated and horrified. 

A shooter dressed in black opened fire on Annunciation Church in south Minneapolis during a weekly morning Mass with students Wednesday.

Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooting killed two children, ages 8 and 10 years old, and injured 17 others. The shooter died by suicide, and there is no active threat to the community.

On Tuesday afternoon, law enforcement identified the sole suspect as {ed. - name redacted so as to not give the demented gunman any publicity}.

FBI Director Kash Patel said on social media that the shooting is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime against Catholics.

“These kids were literally praying,” Mayor Jacob Frey said. “It was the first week of school; they were in a church.”

I'm going to resist the urge to hit back at the usual suspects who demagogue gun control, mock those of us who call for thoughts and prayers, etc. No, instead we need to see this for what it is, and that is a level of depravity which no amount political preening or legislation can alleviate. This is a spiritual battle, which is why someone like the Boy Mayor of Minneapolis shows such contempt for those who try to initiate peace and a sense of calm through prayer. He obviously doesn't understand the power of being guided by the Holy Spirit, so I'm willing to extend him some grace for comments he made in the heat of the moment. 

All that said, even as a faith-filled believer in Jesus Christ, I struggle with all the suffering I witness in these atrocities. Not just the suffering endured by those who died but also the anguish of the loved ones they left behind. And while the human side of me cries out "WHY?!?!," I acknowledge and begrudgingly accept I may never receive the answers I seek. Even Jesus said in Matthew 27:46 “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” In an odd way, that gives me comfort when Christ himself felt separated from God, albeit for a short time. 

In a time like this, I think of the words uttered by the late Rev. Tim Keller in an interview he gave a few years before he passed. 

Many non-believers ask rhetorically that if God is real, why does he allow this suffering? But there is an answer, whether or not they wanna hear it. The fact He gave of His only son so that we can have eternal life ensures there will be no more sorrow and no more pain upon our leaving this world. When I look at it that way, I feel genuine sorrow for those who don't know God and thus mock the cries out to Him in times of trial.

Come, Lord Jesus. 

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