Snowflakes and Earthquakes
Lately, there's been more talk about the weather than is normal - even for the British. Day after day there has been an avalanche of media coverage about the impact of the snow - from spectacular shots of snow-shrouded scenery, to school closures, to heartbreaking reports of lives lost on icy roads and frozen waterways.
And then, amid our winter snow, a massive earthquake hits Haiti, wreaking devastation on a terrible scale. There, schools are closed because they have collapsed, and lives lost are counted in the tens of thousands. In terms of global significance, the natural phenomenon of snow in winter - and our discontent - suddenly turns a whiter shade of pale.
The reality of suffering on a grand scale, however, does not diminish the impact of suffering on a smaller scale. How, then, should we respond when the elements inflict misery on our local or global neighbours?
Certainly with love - the compassionate, practical love that will provide clothes, food and shelter for the stricken in Haiti; and dig next door's car out from the snow at home. Such is the love that testifies to our faith being alive and not dead (James 2:14-26). Such is the love with which Christ loved us, and commanded us to love each other (John 15:12).
Similarly, we follow his example by resisting any response that neatly correlates suffering with judgment. When told of Galileans slaughtered by the Romans as they worshipped, Jesus utterly rejected the underlying assumption that their murder was evidence of divine judgment. Neither, he insisted, was the suffering of those killed when a tower collapsed on them (Luke 13:1-5). In neither case did Jesus offer any alternative explanation of human suffering, but issued the stark challenge to his hearers: 'unless you repent, you too will all perish'. The implication is clear: since we can never know when or where tragedy or disaster will strike, the need to be in right relationship with God is vital. That means evangelism matters - really matters. We must attach the same urgency to daily sharing the gospel as we do to despatching emergency aid in the wake of disaster.
In this too we follow Jesus' example. The gospel, after all, whilst demanding social action, is defined by more than social action.
But how easy, in the routine of the everyday, to let our concern for the salvation of others melt away - like the thawing snow - to nothing but a memory.
Nigel Hopper
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