Article September 30, 2013 Issue

When you want to do something about the ills of society

Merelice

Commemorative concerts, fundraising efforts, public prayer vigils—all are comforting, helpful, even necessary steps that often take place after a horrendous natural disaster or human atrocity.

Following such events, inevitably people ask, How can we make sense out of such a devastating storm or evil act? And more troubling, How does a good God allow bad things to happen?

For me, part of the answer lies in what the prophet Elijah learned when his own life was at risk: that the Lord was not in the fierce wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire. Instead, the inspiration of “a still small voice” guided and protected Elijah (see I Kings 19).