Living with Strength and Kindliness

Last term our staff had the privilege of listening to Dr. Jim Nickoloff, a pre-eminent professor specialising in Liberation Theology who normally resides in Miami.

I have been reminded of some of the things he said in response to the renewed wave of terror attacks in Christchurch and Sri Lanka as I have been pondering the inevitable question for most of us: Where is God in all this?

Oneof Jim’s presentations was around the ways we find God in our lives, He explained that in difficult times, the better we know how to find God, the more equipped we are to cope with our distress.

He asked us to recall a time when we were in awe of creation: one staff member said that it was standing on top of a mountain, another before the Grand Canyon, and another in the face of their child. We could all relate to these moments when we find ourselves euphorically overcome by beauty - it is fleeting and it is real, and it stays with us. God is in these moments of human mystical wonder.

He asked us to recall a time when, in our quest for understanding something, whether it be a plumbing problem or an academic problem, we hit a wall. There were plenty of examples from among us. He explained that God is in that moment of weakness, when we realise our humility as human beings, and that we need some kind of help from somewhere.

He asked us to recall a time when we were overcome with the sadness of injustice and the hopelessness of it, and so we took action. We cooked a casserole for a grieving family, we marched, we signed a petition, we wrote to the local newspaper. He explained that God is in these moments too. In our knowledge that we are the change agents in our world.

These are ways to explain to your children too where God is in the world. Most particularly, our children can be empowered by knowing that they can join with the adults to be agents against injustice; that God is in our righteous response.

Part of the prayer on SIMON today was a psalm:

The Lord is close to the broken hearted

Those whose spirits are crushed he will save

Many are the trials of the just person

But from them all the Lord will rescue them.

Maybe the trials of the just person referred to here are those of the just person in their effort to help the crushed.

Have a great weekend all.

Peace and Mercy,

Renee Oberin

Leadership -Catholic Identity