Faithfully yours - A message of hope to a chaotic world

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Published on Saturday, July 23, 2016

By Neil Strohschein

Neepawa Banner

The old saying goes like this: “There are three sides to every story—your side, my side and the truth.” In view of some of the things that happened this past week, I’d like to reword that saying to read: “There are three sides to every tragedy—the facts we hear, see or read; the speculation created by those who think they know why the events took place; and then the truth.”

Case in point—the senseless murder of five-year-old Taliyah Marsman and her mom, Sarah Baillie.

As soon as Calgary City Police revealed that they had a suspect in custody and that he had been charged with two counts of First Degree Murder, people started asking: “Who is the suspect? What do we know about him? How did he know Sarah and Taliyah?” And the one question on everyone’s mind was: “Why were these lives taken in such a horrible manner?”

The only answer they received, because it was the only answer Calgary’s City Police could give was: “We don’t know. That’s what we’re working around the clock to find out.” In other words, they are looking for the story’s third side. They are looking for the truth.

The same can be said for the police and military in Nice, France. They are busy trying to figure out why a man drove a transport truck into a crowd of people watching the fireworks that capped off a day-long celebration of Bastille Day. Film footage showed the truck approaching the crowd and then accelerating. By the time it stopped, 84 people were dead and dozens of others were injured, some critically.

French President Hollande called this a terrorist act, which immediately caused people to wonder which terrorist organization was responsible. No one really knows for sure, so like the police investigating the Marsman-Baillie murders, officials in France are looking for the third side of the story. They are looking for the truth.

Over time, investigators will find most of the information they are seeking. They will release what they feel the public needs to know. The rest will be kept on file. Their focus, and our focus must now be on the future. How can we help the grieving families heal and how can we build a society that is more accepting, more tolerant of differences and much less violent?

It is here that, as people of faith, we can make a significant contribution. How do we do this?

First, by our prayers. I was encouraged last Sunday to see people of all faith traditions offer prayers for the safety of our police, firefighters, EMS personnel and military and cry out to God for an end to violence and for peace to prevail in our homes, in our streets and in our world. As tensions and uncertainty in our world increase, so must the prayers of God’s people.

Second, by proclaiming our faith in the God who, despite how it may seem, is in complete control of everything that is happening on this planet. This is not the first time our society has seemed to be on the verge of destroying itself and it certainly won’t be the last.

We would do well to listen to the words of King David who, in the face of severe adversity, wrote these words: “In God I trust; I am not afraid. What can people do to me?” (Psalm 56:11)

Our message to a chaotic world is: “Pray to God. Trust in God. He will preserve, protect and provide for all who believe in him.”