Adventus Interruptus

From Saint Matthew:

"A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."

I have to confess that this week has left me numb.

While soldering on Thursday, I learned that a longtime friend lost her 18 month fight against pancreatic cancer.  Then like all of you, I turned on the news only to see the hell that was unleashed on the lambs of Sandy Hook.  

Wendy and I became acquainted at my first job after retiring from the Air Force.  Truly an amazing soul; she was that person who could light an entire room simply by crossing its threshold.  She cast an infectious joy and even when having to confront a weasel of a first husband, her spirit was indomitable.  It was as though the old saying "You can't keep a good woman down" was penned for her.

Early in 2011, Wendy experienced an event while flying from Colorado.  Several of us advised her to go to the emergency room after developing what we suspected to be a blood clot.  This visit revealed the terrifying news of the cancer yet it probably extended her life.

She fought bravely over the coming months and obtained a quiet abiding faith in the Almighty, whom she knew was sustaining her through the body-wracking procedures fighting the cancer that was battling for her body.  But at 1:15 on Thursday morning, she exchanged her battered body for light eternal in the presence of the Almighty Triune Godhead.  For Wendy, we pray:

Almighty God, we remember before you today your faithful servant Wendy; and we pray that, having opened to her the gates of larger life, you will receive her more and more into your joyful service, that, with all who have faithfully served you in the past, she may share in the eternal victory of Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Yesterday, we all learned of the hell that was unleashed on the quiet town of Newtown, CT.  I refuse to call this a tragedy.  I tragedy is when a child is lost to an accident or sudden illness.  Hell is when a son of Belial murders a classroom full of kindergartners, his mother and other adults before taking his own life.  Babies, whose entire lives were in front of them were wrenched from this world in an unthinkable fury.

My prayers go up for every family that has been touched by this horror.  My prayers also go up for this Republic that it would see the misery that's be wrought by this post-christian experiment.