During these past few days people have been asking me a simple question, a one word question; "Why?" Why have we suffered this loss of life, this devastation, this suffering? My answer has been simple as well; "I don't know."
In the Bible the Book of Job, more than any other book of the Scriptures, addresses the mystery of suffering. Job is a good man but suffers the loss of everything. He loses his family and loved ones, his possessions, his health. Finally, with nothing left, he stands before God and asks that heart rendering question: "Why?"
God does not answer the question. Instead, in summary, God asks Job when I created the earth, was it you who directed me? Was it you who told me how large to make it? Was it you who set the stars in their places? Was it you who created the animals and gave the horse its strength and taught the hawk how to soar?
And Job bows before God and says I will ask no more questions. In effect Job says that God's mind is far greater than his. He will never understand the mind of God, but he will trust God.
To the question "Why" I must answer "I do not know." But this I do know: that the love of God is with us. That the Lord who wept over Jerusalem, knowing that it would be destroyed, is with us. The Lord who wept with Martha and Mary at the tomb of their brother Lazarus, is with us. The Lord, whose heart was repeatedly moved with pity when he saw the suffering and struggles of others, is with us. The Lord whose side was pierced with a lance as he hung suffering on the cross, is with us as our hearts are pierced with our pain and loss.
And so we go forward. These past few days I have traveled throughout our devastated coastal areas. Everywhere I have gone the people of Mississippi are making ourselves proud. People are reaching out to one another and caring for each other. The help from elsewhere in the country is finally beginning to arrive, but for these past several days we have had to rely upon one another and the love of God has shown through our good people. This is our calling as followers of the Lord. He has summarized the law and the prophets by telling us to love our neighbor. He has promised that not even a cup of cold water given in his name is ever forgotten. And believe me, good people, in the past sweltering days with no electricity or running water, I have come to deeply appreciate a cup of cold water.
I have noticed something significant in people who experience great suffering. One of two things happens to them. They either become angry, bitter and cold people, almost as if their hearts shrink, or they become more loving, compassionate, and generous, almost as if their hearts expand. We do not choose whether or not to suffer. Each one of us at a time or times in our lives will suffer. One of the most painful aspects of suffering is that we do not choose the time or the fashion that suffering comes into our lives. What we do choose is what we will do with that suffering. We choose to allow it to shrink our hearts and our spirits or to expand our hearts and out spirits.
So we now to forward together, and we will go forward. I have spoken with so many people theses past few days. I wish I could share many of these conversations since so many moved me deeply. Let me share one. I told a man "We will make it." He smiled at me and replied "Bishop, we already have." He was right, we have made it, now we rebuild. Our communities will never be the same, but they can be better. We will never be the same, but we can be better. With God's help, and the help of one another, we will go forward. We are God's family, we are Mississippi, and Mississippi will rise again.
