Laments for the dead - and the living

This is a world of contradiction
Which makes me wonder about the God who made it
On any given day – there is the wonder and beauty of sunrise
The dew sparkling on trees and wildflowers

And almost blasphemous
At that instant
A beloved dies

And that is the blessing and curse of living
The terrible juxtaposition of death and life
We must choose – you and I
We must decide if we are able
Are we strong enough to hold death and life in our hands

We fail the gods if we drop either burden
Because life fully lived is heavy
As it is sprinkled throughout with dying

Children before their time
And wicked men live too long for our liking
There is no explaining it
If we are wise – there is only acceptance

But in the intervening days
We scream and grieve
We curse the darkness and pray for light
We mourn the good who died unjustly
We wail at the destruction of peace by the power of the wicked

We demand – and rightly – we demand justice for the aggrieved
For Breonna and George
For the twenty dead children of Sandy Hook Elementary
For the nine gunned down in Charleston at the Emanuel AME Church

We fear there is no justice
There can be no reparation large enough
To repay the debt of death and hate
People bought and sold like cattle
Women raped on plantations
Who could never scream
Or heal
Or even mourn the loss of all that matters

What God allows such horror?
What kingdom of men tolerates such pain?

And as I scream – enraged and weeping bitter tears
A child is born
A father cries tears of joy
And the mother tenderly
Brings the baby to her breast

This world is a contradiction
My prayer and journey is to see the face
Of them that made us
And meekly ask
Why?

dg

6/11/2020