A Personal Response To The San Bernardino Terror Attack

Photo credit: NBCLA.com/Handout via Reuters

[As a 9-11 survivor and in lieu of the latest Paris and San Bernardino Terrorist’s Attacks…]

There have been times in my life, such as tonight, that I have felt sad and powerless over a situation. When this happens, I purposely tune out all outward distractions and ‘escape’ deeply within my ‘inner cave’ for solace. It is within ‘this place’ – my ‘inner cave’ – that I seek guidance and renewal.

Breathing slowly, I close my eyes and quietly murmur to myself “relax and let go” over and over again until I am fully relaxed. Calmly, I visualize myself in a room and stare ahead at the closed door in anticipation. My murmurs instantly turn to praise as He enters the room and Love fills the room.

Silently, He outstretches His arms towards me and I joyously run into His loving embrace. I cry with happiness and crawl onto His lap, safe and secure, while I wait for Him to speak.

I bury my head within His chest, eager as a child, for His word. He knows my needs and He knows I need Him. As He gently caresses my head, He begins to speak to my heart.

He lovingly addresses my issues of worry and anxiety with His words from the Sermon on the Mount:

“For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span? And why are you anxious about clothing?

Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith?

Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’ For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:25-34 KJV)

Clearly, my self-indulgent worry has been a ‘faith issue’. Similar to Jesus’ narrative about ‘each day has enough trouble of its own’, is a saying that says, “To borrow from tomorrow is to be in debt to time.” In other words, if we are focused on tomorrow, we lose the opportunities available today.

Jesus distinctly tells us not be worry or be anxious about anything. Pointing to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field and observing that they are both fed and clothed by our heavenly Father, Jesus makes several key points. Never have I seen a bird flying around wringing his wings over where he was going to find a worm nor am I aware of any lilies that are taking daily doses of Xanax for anxiety. Just like a good, loving ‘Daddy’, God tenderly takes care of their needs. And so, since Jesus points out that we are worth much more than they, will He not do much more for you and me?

In order to conquer worry, we must first come to the realization that God is ‘the Head of the family’ and is in control. We must realize that He tenderly loves each and every one of us and will never abandon us especially during times of tragedy such as today’s San Bernardino shooting, last month’s Paris terrorist attack and other tragedies. So many people, however, are simply not convinced of this fact. Actually, if truth were known, it is ‘man’ who often abandons Him.

When ‘man’ screws up, you gotta blame someone, right? Wrong.

He has and is always there, humbly waiting for our permission ‘to let Him come into our lives and take care of us’. But in order to really let Him work in our lives we have to get out of our own way. This step takes ‘letting go’ and a ‘dying of oneself’. For some, just like many today with recent shooting, that is where the difficulty is.

E. Stanley Jones said, “Worry is the interest we pay on tomorrow’s troubles.” He was right. Being anxious over what is yet to be and may not be is suffering in advance for something that may never happen. It is living in the “what ifs.” What if this happens, or that happens? Well, what if it doesn’t? And what if it does? Will you not have enough time to worry about it then?

If God sacrificed His Son for all of us, why don’t we trust Him? With such a loving Father, our hope should be a confident assurance in God’s will rather than a dismayed ‘I hope so’. As horrible as these terrorist attacks are, we, as believer’s must believe that God’s ‘got this’!

Although we can not ‘understand’ today’s tragedy we must pray and pray hard… for each victim – deceased and alive – for all the family’s as well as a healing within our nation. God be with all of us!