Heart-breaking tragedy hit the Bay Area last Friday. Thirty-six full-of-life people perished in the Oakland Ghost Ship in a fire that consumed them. You have seen the pictures and read the stories. In our local papers, we read the brief profiles of many of these aspiring artists who made a life by working in service jobs in the day and scrapping by to live in whatever affordable housing they can find. I grieve over these great losses of human life that will no longer grace and enrich our lives forevermore.
Sadly, we know that last Friday’s tragedy was not the first nor will it be the last when it comes to the death of innocent people. We lament. We recite, “walking through the shadow of the valley of death.” We think about Job’s undeserved calamities. We remembered how Jesus explained why the blind man was not like that as the result of what someone in his family did. As human beings, we cannot not feel some degree of loss to know that people like us have died. Jesus proclaimed that he came to give life and for us to live life abundantly. So why did 36 people die last Friday?
Already there’s much soul-searching. There will be investigations, litigations, and prayerfully reconciliations. There is just no acceptable answer to the question why good people die. In fact, there is also no acceptable answer to the question why less-than-good people die. In Ecclesiastes, we read, “There is a time to be born and a time to die.” As human creatures, there’s a rhythm in life that we have and we are called to live life as fully, as productively, as lovingly, as gently, and as faithfully as we possibly can. And whatever happens, we leave the rest in the hands of God. I believe the 36 people did just that. God be with them in this season of Advent.
At the beginning of my ministry over 40 years ago, I clipped out St. Patrick’s Christ Be With Me. It’s always been tucked into my Day-Timer that I have used throughout my career and perhaps has served as my prayer card especially when I traveled around the country. I offer St. Patrick’s prayer in such a tragic time.
I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me;
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me.
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me.
Christ be with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit up,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
As just a simple preacher, I am absolutely confident that God is all around us even when tragedy hits us.