Terror and Aftermath: A Meditation from Dean Moore on the Sri Lanka Easter Terror Attacks
April 27, 2019 – Terror and Aftermath: A Meditation
In the horrible aftermath of bombings in three Christian churches in Sri Lanka on Easter Day, and the bombings of four nearby hotels, we continue to mourn the lost lives of more than 250 people. Compounding the shock, the bombings took place on the Holy Day of Resurrection, the day of greatest hope in the Christian year. As Sri Lanka continues to mourn with mass funerals, we mourn with them, and we also mourn for the three recently burned African-American churches in Louisiana, and now today the shooting in a synagogue in Poway, California, that took one life and injured at least three others on the last day of Passover.
Less than a week has passed since the bombings in Sri Lanka, and the aftermath magnifies the tragedy – traumatic experiences of family and friends who lost loved ones, the revelation of suspects in the bombings, fear in Christian communities that they will never feel safe, and fear in Muslim communities that people will seek retaliation. Yet people representing many faiths across the world have expressed heartfelt concern.
Can Easter possibly speak into this tragedy? The grief grows over time, and the terror during Easter worship was a strike at the heart of Christian faith. Yet Easter will not die. In the rising of Jesus, we witness redemption and the promise of new life in the aftermath of crucifixion and the imperial abuse of power that it represented. We witness Jesus’ faithfulness even on the cross, and His rising with the promise of Life for the world. The world into which Jesus rose was still damaged by violence, oppression, injustice, and hurt, and yet his resurrection, however understood, decried the power of those destructive forces over life.
The world into which Jesus rose was and is filled with destruction. Yet we remember the lives that changed radically as people encountered the risen Christ. We remember the transformations that early Christians birthed into the world and the transformations that Christians have continued to birth for centuries, even as they (we) have fallen severely short and have contributed to destruction ourselves. Violence permeates the world we live in today, yet love continues to transform people. The promise has not died.
In the aftermath of terrorism and tragedy, Easter faith is sober but it is very much alive. It is the promise of life in the midst of death. The Easter message is stronger than ever.
– Dean Mary Elizabeth Moore