I’m sitting in a Starbucks right now. Laptop open. Coffee hot. Listening for the words on my heart.
But the words have gone.
There are so many things I wish I could say. So many things that I think I HAVE to say.
But the words have gone.
The world is hurting. The world is thirsting. Lives broken. People brought to their knees. People shaking their fists in anger, hate, hurt, frustration.
The noise. The noise is everywhere. Filling our eyes. Filling our ears. Filling our world. Filling our lives.
Yet there is silence. Emptiness. We can’t hear anything. We try so hard to shut out this silent noise.
I want to fill it with words. The words of our Father. The words of the Comforter. The words of the Peacemaker.
I want to fill it with my words. The words of a friend. The words of a woman. The words of a human. The words.
But the words have gone.
The chasm grows bigger. And people try to fill it with words, but all pours forth is noise. And the noise.
Oh, the noise chips away at the crumbling edges we stand upon. Looking in.
Looking in at the fallen. Looking in at the hurting. Looking in at the broken.
Our good intentions. Our hurts. Our anger. Our thirst for justice. All noise.
But the words have gone.
I throw my hands up in the air. What can I do? Lord, what can WE do?
My heart wrenched and aching from shrapnel launched a world away. My eyes burning from the salty tears shared by mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends around the globe. My mouth, dry, thirsting for the words that are not there.
If I have no words, what do I have? What do WE have?
Friends, we have the one and only thing that saves us.
Love.
Love is not just a word. Love is not merely a thing. Love is not a pretty decoration or doodle in your notebook.
Love is what causes our hearts to ache. Love is what causes the tears to come. Love is what causes us to feel the things that for which there are NO WORDS.
Love is an action. Love must be done, not said. Love must be felt, not heard. Love is the silent healer.
Silence the noise.
For we are called to LOVE.
It is simply this… Love one another.
My heart goes out to the families of those who lost their lives or were injured in the Manchester incident yesterday. My heart also goes out to all the hurting and broken people around the world. I pray for peace within your souls whatever your circumstance. Know that where ever you are, whatever you’ve done, or whatever has been done to you, I am here and You. Are. Loved.
