Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Things

Sunday night I got a call from my friend Theda. She told me that Deb, my friend and former spiritual director has experienced a tragedy. Deb's son, age 20, was killed in a car accident Saturday night. Deb is in good company among my friends this year. After the most recent tragedy I began to recount the horrible things that had happened to people I know and love, and to others in the world in the last year. At some distance from me, there was a tsunami, an earthquake, and several hurricanes. Closer to home, Brandon's grandma died, one of my best friend's was diagnosed with cancer, another had emergency gall bladder surgery. Our neighbors lost both thier father and brother-in-law in car accidents within 2 weeks of each other. Theda's friend's husband died in a car accident. I was separated from Brandon for about a month. And the husband of one of Brandon's friends committed suicide.
It seems that there is some awful evil that was unleashed on the world in the last year. So why do I have hope? I know that I cannot believe with the likes of some idiots who claim Christianity, that these tragedies were the result of disobedience to God. God does not cause tragedy and make people hurt.
Dickenson said that "hope is a thing with feathers." And the Bible says that these three remain "faith, hope, and love." But the greatest is not hope, rather it is love. So maybe I will pray that hope would fly and feather it's way toward my friends who need it, and I will continue to do what I do, which is love. And in the midst I will "hope" that Love will comfort, and heal. And as Theda told me once, I will say in return "I have hope for you."