Evil

Like so many others, I cried as I watched the coverage of the terrible shooting in Connecticut.  I cried for the loss of all those innocent lives, for the pain of the families, for a society that produces a young person with the motive and means to inflict such unspeakable horror, for the little ones who survived but had to witness the evil.

And evil it was.  As the nation grapples with the many issues something like this raises, it seems we must all agree that what happened was, in fact, evil.

This weekend, one news program chose to end its coverage with a tribute to the heroism that occurred in the midst of the shooting:  The teacher who died shielding her students, the principal who ran toward the shooter instead of away.  "Good" that stood in stark contrast to the sheer evil of the murders.

As I contemplated these acts of self-sacrifice, it occurred to me that, while we praise those who do valiant things, we expect nothing less.  Think about it.  How would we respond to teachers who saved themselves first, whose reaction was to secure their own survival at the expense of the children?  We instinctively KNOW that good people must protect the innocent.

What is it within us that expects good and cries out against evil?  When things go well- when our children come back home to us safely and the people around us are kind- we accept that as our due.  We believe that's how life should be.  But when evil is unleashed and suffering descends, we shake our fists at a universe where such things are tolerated.

It surely must be that we yearn for good because we were created by One who is good.  Our Creator intended only good for us always.  He created a world of only good, and then (inexplicably, it seems, during times such as these) He gave us the free will to choose.  Though we chose badly, and though unimaginable evil now mars the world, our hearts remember.  We remember that perfect creation, and we long for the day when it is restored, and evil is obliterated once and for all.

"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes;
there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.
There shall be no more pain, 
for the former things have passed away.
Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new."

Revelation 21:4-5

Amen.  Even so, come Lord Jesus!