Here on the Coast PTSS is a real, live, ongoing issue. It impacts young and old, rich and poor, slabbed or not. Last summer when Tropical Storm Ernesto popped up many many many miles away, folks around here got very anxious. Being spared any hurricanes last year was life saving in more than one way, and I mean that with all seriousness.
This Wednesday night at our healing service in the “new” quarters at Camp Coast Care, we talked about the Virginia Tech tragedy, and looking for God in these difficult events. I tried to show the BIG difference between and act of nature (Katrina) and an act of evil (Cho). Surely this man was ill and very dark, and I did not feel it my place to judge him or the system or gun control or whatever the secular world needs to discuss around this horrible event. Instead I looked at a group of people who were, literally, scared and confused and very, very anxious.
Their world has been upside down for 20 months now. This news just confirms it for them.
We talked about Jesus emptying himself, becoming a slave, going forward to death, even death on a cross for us. That God knows suffering and it is in that place we can find our own Lord.
Mostly, though, just talking about our fears and anxieties seemed somewhat cathartic for some. As I’ve said before, the mental health issues down here are enormous, please keep the prayers coming.