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My thoughts exactly…

I think one of the reasons I stopped writing for those several weeks is because me – a writer! – couldn’t put into words what I thought and how I felt. Sigh.

But my aunt wrote a poem, and reading it just this morning made me realise that *this* is exactly what I’ve been thinking. So I wanted to share it with you, dear Reader. My aunt, a retiree in New Zealand who spent many years of her life as a missionary in Egypt, wrote this on her own response to the COVID-19 lockdown:

***

eThoughts  during the Coronavirus Lockdown:     (Jeanette  Grimmer,   10  May, 2020)

A computer interview I lately came upon

Intrigued me as I learned that  John Lennox, Oxford don,

Has in his timely  book  a certain stance unfurled:

Asking  “Where is God in a coronavirus world?”

 

As  all nations  face the coronavirus running rife

With  no cure yet to keep it from destroying life

We fear, we see our weakness, our mortality,

And think anew on life, its end,  and how it’s meant to be.

 

Some surely  will react to this disaster of our day

As the suffering of millions cannot be explained away,

By saying that  if a mighty,  caring God did this allow;

Then faith that God exists is utmost  foolishness,  and how!

 

Some religious folk see our crisis as a judgment from God’s hand

And seek out  evidence to prove these events are as he planned;

Say  our rebellious deeds have angered God to such extent

That  our coronavirus chaos is on sin his punishment.

 

Yet  while Lennox understands why some men hold these views

He makes it plain that as a Christian he chooses to refuse

To  react in either way,  for as he understands  the Holy Book,

The words  and  life of Jesus Christ  afford  a whole new look.

 

For when Jesus Christ was told of the Galileans Pilate killed

He asked if people thought  their death a judgment that God willed

Because compared with others their sinful deeds were worse,

Then  stated  clearly that in fact the truth was the converse.

 

And Luke records that Jesus chose to question them as well

About  the eighteen  folk who died when  Siloam Tower fell:

“Do you think they were more  guilty than others in Jerusalem?

I tell you, no!  But now repent, or else you’ll die like them.”

 

To Jesus tragic life events  were not a punishment God  sent

On  certain wicked men, but  these may  urge us to repent

Since each of us will one day God’s  judgment have to face

And we who have repented will  receive abundant grace.

 

If indeed God loves us, how do we suffering explain?

It is a mystery, and yet we trust He’s  with us in our pain,

Jesus suffered on the Cross,  He died for me to  live forgiven

Therefore I trust my Father God  whose love draws me to heaven.

 

***

Isn’t it beautiful! I love it. And I love her – and am so glad she allowed me to share it on here with you 🙂

Have a trust-filled week yourself, dear Reader.

  • KRidwyn