Friday afternoon as I was puttering around doing a few things at home I happened to catch a snatch of news from the builder's radio. When the newsreader said that police had warned people to avoid the central city I had no idea what city she was referring to. A few more comments and I decided to pull out my device and search online.
The headlines were unbelievable and incomprehensible. I read them, and the accompanying article, in a state of numbness.
Christchurch. Terrorist attack. Schools and businesses in lockdown. Unknown how many injured.
It didn't make any sense. And at that point, and even later into the night, there was little available information. In fact, one DIL, arriving later that night, had more accurate information due to her job than we had garnered from online sources.
Still, we couldn't comprehend it.
It felt surreal.
Could such an event really occur in New Zealand and in Christchurch of all places? That beautiful city of arts and culture? That city that has already suffered so much due to the devastating earthquake eight years ago? That city that bears our Saviour's name?
Could it have really happened?
And in a place of worship? A place where anyone, regardless of religion, should feel safe.
Two days later, and I'm still trying to untangle my mixed thoughts. Still trying to understand how I should pray. Still trying to come to terms with evil that now has a face. A name. An evil that has existed for thousands of years and in countless forms but which we - perhaps naively - didn't expect to see on this scale in New Zealand.
One verse of our National Anthem says,
Men of ev'ry creed and race
Gather here before Thy face,
Asking Thee to bless this place,
God defend our Free Land.
From dissension, envy, hate,
And corruption guard our State,
Make our country good and great,
God defend New Zealand.
The perpetrator and many of those who died, had not been born in this country. They were women, children and "[m]en of ev'ry creed and race" and yet one of them brought "dissension, envy, hate" deliberately, willingly, to these shores and changed the face of New Zealand.
We will never be the same after this. The everyday things - going to church, to school, to work, to the park, to the supermarket - will hold a fear that has never been there before.
I felt it yesterday when I went shopping with Son#5: What if … ?
I felt it this morning in church: Would I be willing to die for my beliefs?
I will feel it, no doubt, in coming days: It happened in Christchurch: could it happen here?
Fifty people have lost their lives. As many injured.
Many thought it could never happen on New Zealand soil. None of us expected it on this scale.
How then, should we respond?
Romans 12:21 says:
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (KJV)
The CEV puts it this way:
Don't let evil defeat you, but defeat evil with good.
And TLB:
Don't let evil get the upper hand, but conquer evil by doing good.
I think that's our answer.
(Photos courtesy of pixabay.com).
