Lord,
Your world is on fire.
It rains from time to time
But still flames rise
Hotter and higher.

I sit in an air-conditioned office and type this newsletter on a large high-res screen. On my desk is a can of flavored sparkling water and a half-eaten protein bar. In the back of my mind, like a distant ambulance siren, flash images of Afghans in distress and Haitians looking for loved ones amidst the rubble. The tension between my reality and theirs makes it difficult to write about the spiritual life.

While major tragedies do seem to be intensifying in degree and frequency, they are as old as the world. What’s new is our ability to track them in real-time from a staggering array of sources. We are always one tap away from a new first-person perspective of pain. As a result, it almost feels wrong to go about our day as normal.

Lord, teach us how to pray and how to live.

I’m thankful that the Gospels are not simply a list of the sayings of Jesus. It could’ve been that way, a sort of Proverbs Volume 2, Jesus Edition. Instead, the Gospel writers present the words of Jesus within the life of Jesus — a flesh-and-blood life lived in a broken world during a tumultuous time.

And here’s what I see in that life.

Jesus is always full of compassion but never overwhelmed by human suffering.

When Jesus walked on earth, tragedies and injustices were happening in places where he did not choose to take his body. Though he cared about these ​“pains of elsewhere” far more than any human ever could, they did not put his mind into an anxious state. He didn’t live with a vague sense of guilt for those he didn’t heal. He knew he would set all things to right, but not all at once. His work was to initiate the world’s restoration; the completion — a world without pain — would come later.

So for 36 months he did what the Father asked him to do. Then he breathed on us. Now we are Christ’s body here on earth.

Following his example, we each have work the Father gives us to do. And following his example, that work is best done when we withdraw often for prayer. From that place of communion with God, some will be led to give or go to places like Haiti, some to other kinds of work. But it’s in giving our attention first to the quiet voice of God that we’ll know rightly how to listen and respond to— and sometimes take a break from — the news of the world..