I'm preaching tonight at Grace, Evanston for their midweek worship. This image, The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai is in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Psalm 46:1-3
First Wednesday of Lent, March 16, 2011
Grace Lutheran; Evanston, IL
Pr. Katie Hines-Shah
Our hearts go out to the Japanese people as news of last Friday's 9.0 Earthquake and its aftermath continue to unfold. The disaster is beyond our comprehension. Earthquake. Tsunami. Nuclear meltdown. We watch. We hope. We pray. We send money and aid. We look for assurance in human ability to prepare for such crisis. Yet no assurance can be found.
It is a terrible truth that the Japanese people are perhaps the best-prepared people in the world for such catastrophe. Japanese buildings are constructed to withstand earthquake. Japanese people, young children to elderly adults, routinely practice tsunami drills. Japanese nuclear engineers are some of the best trained in the world. And yet, homes are damaged. Lives are lost, entire communities are obliterated. And the tragedy is not yet done. From where will help come?
It is in times like these that there is only one answer. Our help comes from the name of the Lord.
The Psalmist knows the depths of our human story. While few of us will face an actual tsunami, we will all face disasters beyond our comprehension. Sickness. Job loss. Divorce. Depression. Death. In times like these even the best preparations can fail. There is no assurance save one.
No matter what happens God will not forsake us. No matter what has been done to us God does not abandon us. No matter what we have done ourselves God will not leave our sides. Though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging, God is with the people of Japan. God is with us. God is with us all to the end. Even to the cross.
Thanks be to God.
Amen
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