What is the world's darkness hiding?

Michael Panao
21 de ago. de 2016
2 min de leitura

The news about deaths in terrorist attacks abound. We've been shocked by Omar's image inside the ambulance. Today, an explosion in Turkey and we were hearing a child in the hospital sharing her experience, with the face full of wounds.

Where is God?

Then I remembered that sentence in the Gospel.

"whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:40)

When we look their faces, we're looking at the face of God.

The violence emerging in the world is a clear expression of the darkness in human hearts. Darkness hiding wounded hearts where values elevating the person next to me are no longer the lights in one's life. I often ask myself where is this darkness coming from? Why?

Then I remember the "Why" of all "whys".

Jesus was nailed to the cross. Blood running down his face. The suffering is unimaginable. I imagine all his senses are numb. But the heart still pumps. His voice still shouts. Of all the things he could have said, we hear

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

His disfigured face is the face of our disfigured world.

Why is there darkness in the hearts of a few men?

I wonder if God is still pronouncing the same question through the bloody face of children, "why have you forsaken me?"

Darkness in men's hearts is the outcome of forsaking God.

Which is why I think the answer lies in God Forsaken.

When we recognize in suffering, pain and death the face of Jesus Forsaken, our response should be to love. We see that in medics, people in the community helping each other, people in the world taking initiative together, regardless of their beliefs, to find aid to those in need. They are the light in all this darkness.

But is there any meaning in the darkness we see spreading all over the world as terrorism?

This reminds me something I recently read. The only reason we're able to see the Milky Way, Nebulas, other stars and an enormous amount of Galaxies from our speckled-blue-planet in the vastness of the universe... is darkness.

Have you ever tried to look at the stars in a well illuminated road? Can't see a thing, except the brightest ones. Only in a profound darkness can we see and marvel at the universe above. So I asked myself, is this darkness from wounded hearts allowing us to see anything positive?

I thought about this for some time.

...

I don't know.

The world needs open hearts to heal wounded ones.

The world needs open hands to help those in need.

The world needs open minds to illuminate the closed-minded.