Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Hell on earth...


"There is no pit so deep His love is not deeper still" - Betsy ten Boom
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Spirit Daily ran the Time magazine cover today, reminding us of Rwanda... it fits well with the descriptions, videos, stills, emerging from Haiti.  Except for one thing - the people's faith.  All faiths seem to be melded together in Haiti, praying, praising God amidst the flames of suffering.  It makes me think of Betsy ten Boom, amidst the horrors of the concentration camp, suffering and dying, assuring her companions, "There is no pit so deep His love is not deeper still."  In the camp, as in Haiti, denomination hardly made a difference.
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In war and destruction, natural disasters and calamities, plagues and famines, it is not relativism for people of diverse faiths to assemble and pray together - to unite without checking into the orthodoxy of one another's religious practice.  No, not at all.  In such a state, everyone lies abject on the threshold of the house of God [Ps. 84] - without distinction.  Everyone looks heavenward, facing one another or looking east, together they pray to God.
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"This changes everything."
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I read that last week on a Haitian blog - immediately after the earthquake.  It really hit me - Haiti does change everything.  There are all sorts of people there, from every walk of life...  death made no distinction.  All lie abject on the threshold of the house of God.
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This changes everything - at least in my hemisphere.  I think it's about time we all change.
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Note:  I am not dismissing the ongoing suffering and desperate need facing the people of Haiti, I'm simply making an observation here.  Please continue to pray for the Haitians, and if you are able to donate money, send contributions to Catholic Relief Services, or one of your favorite emergency relief agencies.  The people of Haiti really do need donations - not to support a life style, but simply to live.
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2 comments:

  1. Terry, I'm a long-time reader of your blog, though I rarely, if ever, comment. That Corrie Ten Boom quote turned my life around many years ago. Years later, after a "dissapointment in luuvv," it came to me that "No love is so deep as His love," and my life was turned around yet again.

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  2. Anonymous3:36 PM

    I love that quote, too. :>

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