Daily we’re exposed to countless tragedies around the world. While often still overwhelming for our finite souls, we can at least filter these through our social, political, and cultural commentaries. We’re not alone as we seek to explain or debate the issues at hand. And this collective burden also frees us to move on when it’s time to shift back into our personal worlds. It’s not a conversation we have to carry home unless we want to. But we’re often left to our own interpretations when tragedy hits closer to home.
And our interpretations are not neutral. Perhaps we shut down, become cynical, or simply believe nothing really matters anymore. Or we realize there are many things in this life not as it should be, and we choose to live with a sober reality as we refuse to live life on the surface. Depending on our interpretations, tragedy will either shrink our world or wake us up to a deeper meaning, purpose, and beauty already present in it.
In this way, tragedy will shape the man we become. Will it harden us? Or deepen us?
To be sure, we cannot deepen our soul by simply trying to think our way through tragedy. The heartaches of this life will not always have a logical explanation, and we need something stronger than mere logic to guard and care for our souls.
Beauty is God’s grace here. True beauty doesn’t allow us to escape or deny the painful realities we must still endure, but it reminds us that even in a broken world a profound goodness remains. Whether through the laughter with a good friend, the innocence of a child, or music that lingers long after the song is done, this deeper truth ministers to our souls in ways beyond our understanding. Beauty is the lifeline that keeps our hearts open to God’s goodness even in the face of inexplicable suffering.
In the end, the question isn’t whether tragedy will come, but only who you will become when it does.
Photo by Kent Rebman on Unsplash
