In the last 8 days our world has been rocked by the tragedy of cancer. A child in our family has bone cancer.
My heart nearly stops everytime I write that. There is something “other-worldly” about that statement. Every time I say those words I think I’m going to choke. This morning I woke and as soon as my eyes were open my stomach started churning with our new reality.
My mind is very logical and it helps me to process information if I have a visual that aids in the processing. I’ve been trying to understand the depth of the pain of tragedy and how people experience tragedy differently. In my mind, there are ever-widening, concentric circles of tragedy. Just as the atomic bomb over Hiroshima had a ground zero with ever widening planes of damage, so does tragedy. The damage lessens as you travel further from the center, but the damage is far-reaching. Pain and tragedy affect everyone differently.
This child is in the center smaller circle, her parents are in the next circle, her sister and brother are in the next circle. I’m in the 4th circle and the pain is so great that there are days I don’t think I can make it. As the circles widen and get larger, the pain and impact of this particular tragedy diminishes, but the inside circles feel the full brunt of the pain, anguish and tragedy.
While there is much that I do not know, this one thing I DO know – God is in the center and He is in each circle. When we don’t think we can bear another piece of information or another fact, God is there. When we question all that’s happening, God is there. When we feel that the pain will wash over us, God is there. Whatever circle you are in, God is right there. He is the source of all of our comfort, He is the source of all of our hope, He is the source of all of our needs.
How have you been impacted by pain or tragedy? How have you coped? What visuals have helped you understand the impact of pain and tragedy?
