SENTINEL WATCH July 21, 2008 Issue

TO COMFORT THE SUFFERING

MARGARET CAMPBELL

JESUS SAID, "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted" (Matt. 5:4, New American Standard). Today, much of the world needs that Christly comfort. The recent earthquake in China, the cyclone in Myanmar (Burma), along with conditions in African countries including Zimbabwe, have left much of the world mourning. People's hearts go out when they see the anguish of millions who have lost loved ones, homes, and basic necessities in devastated areas around the world. They grieve when humanitarian aid, so desperately needed by those suffering, doesn't reach them.

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal reported that in Myanmar, "only a trickle of aid is reaching the storm's estimated 2.4 million survivors, leaving many without even basic relief" (June 4, 2008). The New York Times reported the same day that hundreds of thousands in Zimbabwe are without food and basic aid because of policies that have suspended the work of international aid groups.

The word mourn in Jesus' beatitude is large in scope. It could refer to those who mourn because of the wickedness of the world (The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 7, p. 281). That relates to the situation today. As much as people are distressed by the suffering of millions around the world, many are also frustrated and angered when the humanitarian aid designed to alleviate suffering is delayed or refused.