In the last three months the community where I live have experienced two catastrophic floods and a hurricane. Each occurrence has left countless homes without power, halted commerce for days, and wrought havoc on various levels to individual families. On one of these powerless mornings, while perusing social media, I was struck by the glaring contrast I saw among the posts.
So many smiling faces and three-sentence commentaries memorialized family get-togethers, church functions, and children’s accomplishments, all pointing to a world spinning merrily along. Yet here I sat, in my dark living room, with the knowledge that rising water had stolen the homes of ten of my neighbors, two families were grieving the tragic loss of their children, and many people were unable to work because work was gone or paused. It was a maddening dichotomy that made me want to scream, “How can this be fair? How dare the world keep spinning while we are sitting, stunned with grief?”
I remember the first time I experienced this emotion. I was fifteen years old, and it was the day my daddy died. My mother had personally delivered the news as she picked me up early from school. In a fog, I followed her to the car where we would make our way silently home. First, however, Mom needed to stop at the local drug store to pick something up. While I waited in the car, I noticed a woman be-bop in behind her. She inevitably hopped onto the sidewalk and skipped into the store, she, in her fashionable work-out gear and tennis shoes. I shook my head in disbelief at the lackadaisical way she conducted herself, as if she hadn’t a care in the world. I wanted to run and grab her, to shake her, and scream in her face, “How dare you go to the store on a day like this! Don’t you know my world is shattered?”
Thankfully, I kept my seat that day, and over the decades I have learned that every day, somewhere, someone’s life shatters, even as I go merrily along my way. So, what is the lesson here, considering carefree appearances on social media amid the tragedy of my friends and neighbors? Regardless of where people are in this moment- whether all is well or everything is wrong in their world- neither of these places is permanent. For the one who celebrates today, sorrow will surely come. For the one who weeps today, joy will also return. This is a promise from the Lord.
So, do I condemn those who are happy in the time of my suffering? I cannot. That would not be fair. Instead, I will hold to the promise that “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning,” Psalm 30:5b.
