Monday, 16 December, 2002

This is a part of a series of devotions based on: God Was In This Place & I , i Did Not Know - by Lawrence Kushner.



This section of Kusher's book is drawn from the stories and images from Hannah Rachel. She was a famous rebbe, the Ludomirer Moid. Men came from miles around to learn from her. The chapter carries this theme into the discussion of Jacob and the dream of the ladder: God is present, even in the midst of evil.



Kushner writes about the wall-sized photograph in Yad VaShem, Israel's memorial to those who perished in the Holocaust. It is the site of a mass grave and the executions taking place at its edge.

If there is a God, where was that God when this photograph was taken? God was there. See, we have a photograph. There is God, over there in the ditch, in the mother's terrified eyes, even in the psychosis of the Nazi soldier. There is God, an ashen reality, now almost two generations later, more mysterious and holy than ever. The question is not Where was God? but Why do human beings do such things? Blaming God not only absolves us but increases the likelihood that we will allow such horrors to happen again.



In this season of Advent, there is no other time so available to the concept of God within the most horrible brutalities of our day as to call out the name Immanuel - God With Us. This is not to be a sentimental image...like a cozy God who pats our head and keeps us safe and secure. Our God is with us - right in that which is good ...and right with us in that which is too horrible to imagine. Our God who comes in Christ, Jesus, and who rules until the end of time is not Lord of All if God is not wrapped up in the evil that can crash into our day. Kushner's last line is very important to keep in front of us: Blaming God not only absolves us but increases the likelihood that we will allow such horrors to happen again.



Connection: Do not be afraid to say God is With Us. God is standing and crying in the midst of our pain whenever it occurs.



Lord of All, we count on you to be our foundation and our rock. Help us to stand upon your presence even as there is evidence of evil all around us. Help us to see in the ashes of our lives the never-failing love that is you always in all things. Amen.