0

To most people the word tragedy denotes some terrible happenings – a plane crash, a grinding automobile accident, a catastrophic disease, a flood.  The possibilities are endless, and each of these happenings can be accurately defined as tragic.  But tragedy has another meaning.  It can also denote something good that could have happened and should have happened but did not.

This understanding of tragedy should remind us that the power of God most often awaits the cooperation of people.  And the tragedy is that most of us are unaware of it.

 In our generation, we need to understand how the continuation of God’s creation requires human   cooperation.  We are faced with the prospect of atmospheric pollution and the contamination of our rivers, and streams and even our oceans.  It is not inconceivable that the excesses and abuses of people could render the air unfit to breathe and the water unable to sustain life.  In churches and in halls of government, voices are now saying, “We must learn to cooperate with the forces of nature.”  In reality they are saying, “The power of God awaits the cooperation of people.”

God’s power has been channeled through human instrumentality.  When time came to lead the nation of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, God did not send an angel.  He sent a man named Moses.  To lead the nation into Canaan, He chose a man named Joshua.  To bring His Son into the world, He chose a girl named Mary.  To spread His gospel around the world, He chose a group of ordinary men and women. 

It is still that way in our day.  To comfort the bereaved, God uses people.  To feed the hungry, God uses people.  To heal the sick, God uses people.  To teach the young, God uses people.  To befriend the lonely, God uses people.  Almost without exception, the power of God awaits human cooperation.

How often have we pondered this reality in our own lives?  How successful are we in cooperation with the power of God to do those same things for the people God sends to us today?  Are we too preoccupied with our own personal self-interests that we have lost sight of this?

Which is more miraculous – to straighten a crooked life or to straighten a crooked limb?  I have known people to lead beautiful lives with dwarfed and twisted bodies, but I never knew anyone to lead a beautiful life with a dwarfed and twisted mind.  A miracle of character is truly a miracle.

Truth can come to our lives from many different sources.  But the most unexpected – the one we are least likely to hear – is the person who is near at hand.  Young people need to open their minds and listen to what parents are trying to say.  They may be wrong, but they can be right.  And they might be telling them something about life that they very much need to hear.  Also, parents and older people need to open their minds and listen to the young.  They may be telling them something they very much need to hear.  How sad it is to miss the truth about life just because it is spoken by a familiar person.  If we would hear the voice of God, we just cultivate the habit of listening to one another.

Miracles of character are available for all of us.  But we must recognize our need and believe in their possibility, or they never will take place