As I continue
through Tattoos on the Heart one
thought pervades my mind; it is sad how very often the gang members that change
their lives for the better end up dying anyways. Very often in the book a gang member
or as Greg Boyle says “homeboy” will change his life but die at the hands of a
rival. Then a second thought came to my mind; it’s not meaningless. If you
believe in God, an all powerful and loving God, then nothing is without
meaning. Many people who don’t believe in God feel that this is all there is,
that life’s only meaning is what you leave behind, thus in death and suffering
we are left alone. With God this is not true, everything from joy to pain is
pregnant with meaning. It doesn’t matter if I live to be 20 or 90, my life is
one lived with purpose and meaning through God, and honestly I don’t care how
long I live because I know that I will have lived for something. Sure I want to
have a wife and kids, I want a family of my own, a job I love, but I know that
no matter what happens it will all have been done for God and that is good
enough for me. I have a long life (I hope) ahead of me, and instead of focusing
on what I’m going to do, I want to focus more on the simple fact that whatever
I do it won’t be for naught. Whether I am joyful or in great pain I know that
there is meaning behind it, maybe, if there’s no explanation, that’s the
consolation behind suffering, that we aren’t alone; that when you suffer, not
only do those who love you suffer but God does too.
1 comment:
What a great observation about the gang member who accepts Christ then is killed afterwards. The secular world could ask, what good did it do him, he is dead, but for those believers we know this is a victory and that he is going home and leaving all the pain of his life behind. The real tragedy would be if he died without his salvation.
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