It’s Going to be Okay

I saw a photo today I wanted to share.

You can see it on the Friendship Room’s facebook page. These children visit them all the time. I promise Molly is super careful about wearing her mask; she just took it off for a moment for the picture. Look at that lovely family biking and playing outdoors. They blew soap bubbles and enjoyed the sun today.

You all know that I’ve been upset for a week straight about the horrendous child neglect case that’s been all over the news, the one that allegedly left a two-year-old starved to death by a traumatized mother who never should have been left in charge of one child, let alone two. I’ll be upset for quite awhile longer. But I just wanted to show you: these are that child’s siblings. Most of them already lived with their grandmother. The baby that came to visit the Friendship Room is the one who was in the house when it happened. She’s fine now. She’s also with her grandmother. She’s going to be okay.

I just figured we all desperately needed some happy news.

It’s not that we shouldn’t count the dead. We should. In fact we ought to. Count the dead and say their names. Scream their names. Carve their names in stone and never forget. Mourn as deeply as you do. Allow yourself to say that you’ll never get over it, because you won’t. Rail at God that it isn’t fair because it’s not.

But also count the living, and look for the miracles.

There are so many miracles in this world of darkness.

Remember, the unspeakably audacious teaching of Christianity is that God became man so that man might become God. All of our most human experiences are Godly experiences now. God dies. God mourns. God suffers. God rails to God that it isn’t fair. God is overwhelmed with delight at the sight of a baby who is going to be okay.

Where we are gathered in the Name– where we are gathered to do something good, because no one can do good apart from Him– He is in our midst, riding bikes and playing with soap bubbles and enjoying the sun.

I’m going to step outside and enjoy the sun with Rosie myself now, but I just wanted to remind you what I was reminded of today. There’s a baby somewhere that’s going to be okay. All of that without erasing any of our perfectly truthful mourning and entirely righteous anger. It’s going to be okay.

Christ is among us, and it’s going to be okay.

Have a blessed Sunday.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

Mary Pezzulo is the author of Meditations on the Way of the Cross. 

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