This is not a political commentary

As I drove to work this morning, I was listening to NPR. They were giving the daily death toll from Iraq. I realized that this has become too much of a “normal” part of my life. When I open the BBC page in the morning to get the rest of the news, I skim right past the headline that tells me how many car bombs had been detonated or of the lives destroyed in that section of the world. The news commentator on NPR described one particular neighborhood as “volatile”. I looked at the neighborhood I was passing at the moment and wondered what it would be like if that one was “volatile”. What if it was a weekly occurrence to have someone set off a bomb killing dozens of people simply trying to buy their vegetables or get the morning paper? I was finally struck once again by the anomalous life being lived in Baghdad by Sunnis, Shiites, Christians, and others just trying to get by day to day. In my mind I hear the objection, “Kelly, you only hear about the extreme incidents over there. You have an unbalanced view of what is actually going on.” However little I hear of the good things, I know that there is nothing “normal” about having a city in which twenty five people were found dead yesterday, and nobody [here] thinks anything of it because that happens EVERY DAY!
As I read the news this morning, I tried to be a little more aware, a little less hardened to what is actually going on. At the same time, I also realized that this is not something that should just keep sinking in until it takes me down. As I read the news, I want to remember that this world, not just that particular region, is deeply troubled because of sin. The whole earth groans for the return of Jesus Christ, who is Lord over all. I wait in great anticipation for the day when his kingdom will be fully established, he will judge all people, sin and death will be finally destroyed, and those who know him will have every tear wiped from their eyes. As I read these stories, I am challenged to live my life more for the kingdom each day. I also pray that more people here and “there” will hear the call of Jesus into a restored relationship with the only true God.