Saturday, January 12, 2013

When Bad Things Happen to Good People

Last night I sat with my boys and waited to learn the identity of four fellow parishioners from Holy Spirit Catholic Church. The four were reported deceased in a car accident while traveling to the site of their medical mission in Haiti.  Together we paced and worried and prayed. Learning the identities of those we lost did not erase our angst. We were left questioning why such horrible things happen to good people. Why?

I'm no philosopher. I'm not even the most well-versed Catholic out there. So my answer is really more akin to a string of obscenities than anything uplifting.

When bad things happen to good people it sucks. It rains angst. It overwhelms our senses and causes us to question the core of our humanity and faith.

And, through that storm of uncertainty and sadness, we emerge. Humbled. Challenged. Changed.

In the past, I've stood on the brink of this storm and I've been awash in its chaos. I don't wish such a journey on anyone. Profound loss like this is a journey unlike any other. It's reason seems to escape even the most learned.

But, last night, while I was worrying over things that were out of my control, my 9-year-old son spoke up with an innocence and intelligence that defies age. He said, "Well, they must have been needed for something even more important. I wonder what it is."

Perhaps he is right. When bad things happen to good people, it may be that their goodness is being rewarded or is needed in another way. In another place.

We who are left to mourn and who seek some rational reason for the loss are challenged to swim through our sadness over time. Relying on the example of those we've lost to shape and balance our future.

When bad things happen to good people it still sucks. Perhaps there is a divine gauntlet being thrown to step up our game and be more good. Not at the risk of losing ourselves too, but with the challenge of being needed for something more important...living a life that reflects the goodness of those we've lost.

Live on, my friends. Keep being good.

Peace and Blessings to Matt Kutsche, Mary LaPonsie, and Rita and Jim Cwengros and their families.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Questionning our faith or Biblical things has become like forbidden,but when our questions come to answers like Maureen's article,it tells you that it is worth questionning things.
This group of people have decided to come to Haiti when department of State of America has a warning over Haiti,they really meant what they were doing. This is to tell you that these people who died and those who made the trip down to Haiti with them were crazy for this mission trip. In Memory of their actions to help people in Seguin,I tell them RIP. January 12 2010 is for Haitian in General,January 11 2013 will be for ever in our Mind