A New Philosophy

A new philosophy? What? Zen Buddhism? Nothing so drastic or as interesting as all that (though I found "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" to be a good read). No, just a new blogging philosophy. Rather than a once-a-month (or less) 2000-word tome, I am moving to a more quick-hit, 500-850 word thought-for-the-day style of posting. Note that I did not say thought-for-every-day, so if that is what you are looking forward to, then prepare yourself for disappointment. But if you check back every few days, there may be a better than 50/50 chance that the infuriatingly stagnant title at the top of the page will be new and different. How is that for a solid commitment?

I had many candidates for my first thought-for-the-day post, including continuing with the "Watching the Watchdog" theme of my last post, which, truth be told, provides enough blog fodder to post daily until the Lord returns. But I will keep my topics varied, and the first follow-up Watchdog post will come later. It is stinkin' hilarious. So then I was going to report on the goings-on at our church last Sunday. A glorious day, but that also will have to wait.


Because last night at about 6:05pm, the 35W bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed right here in my hometown, and it gave me pause. I feel I would be remiss if I did not at least mention the tragedy that occurred right in my own backyard (metaphorically speaking) just last night.

Many of you may have been touched by this, knowing someone either involved, or nearly involved in the bridge collapse. A son-in-law of a good friend was on the bridge when it collapsed, but he survived. Back problems, and short-term memory problems, but survived and expected to recover. Praise God.

I also know someone who was returning home from Bethel where he works, and passed over that bridge at 6:00pm, about 5 minutes before it collapsed. Think about that for a second. Had he decided to finish up one more thing at work, and set out five minutes later, his life and that of his family could be very different right now.

So what to say about this? The first question on everyone's lips is, "why"? In times of tragedy like this, as was also the case on 9/11, my mind is drawn to the following passage of Scripture:

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
-Luke 13:1-4

As words of comfort go, I don't know that these would be the first words out of my mouth if I am sitting with someone who is dealing with a loss through this tragedy. And if that is you, my heart goes out to you. This little story from Scripture may not answer the question "why" for you, but it should eliminate some wrong answers to that question.

I would ask you to think for a moment about where you were last night at 6:05pm. I had caught a ride early with Betsy, and was sitting outside the back door of church (as I had forgotten my wallet and thus my card key), waiting for someone to show up and let me in for prayer meeting. Where were you? And why were you there, and not crossing the 35W bridge over the Mississipi River at that moment? And out of all the thousands of cars that had passed over that bridge that day, why were those particular people in those particular cars on that particular bridge at that particular time when the bridge support gave way and the bridge fell into the river? I don't know.

But someone asked Jesus an almost identical question, as recorded in Luke 13, in reference to some Galileans who had met an unfortunate end at the hands of Pilate. Jesus addresses the Galilean question, and then adds one of his own. Evidently there were eighteen people in the wrong place at the wrong time when a tower of Siloam collapsed on them, and they died - an event known to his hearers, as he refers to them as "those eighteen who died".

And Jesus anticipates the "why" question regarding both the Galileans and the Eighteen. Were the Galileans worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? Were the eighteen more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem, who did not happen to be standing under that tower when it fell? Jesus' answer is the same in both cases - "I tell you no, but unless you repent, you too will all perish."

So what is he saying here? Doesn't this seem a little insensitive? I think what he is saying is that it just as easily could have been you standing under the tower of Siloam. There is no inherent goodness within you that kept you away from the tower, just as there was no inherent evil which caused the eighteen to be standing under it. So the next time tragedy strikes, there is no inherent reason that it couldn't be your turn. So repent, lest you too perish.

So fast forward 2000 years to the 35-W bridge. The last count I saw listed 4 dead and 20 missing as a result of the collapse. Were they more guilty than all the others living in Minneapolis? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you too will all perish.

Caribou Coffee has a slogan - "Life is short. Stay awake for it". I would amend that slightly - "Life is short. Repent." Probably won't sell much coffee...