If you did not see a entry yesterday, it's no accident.  I devoted the day to visiting a friend in prison.  It was a lengthy day and began very early in the morning and well into the end of the day.  A number of years ago, my friend, whom I'll call George, drank more than he should have and subsequently got into his car and set out into the night.  Minutes later, he failed to see a stopped vehicle at an intersection and drove directly into it.  Due to a faulty fuel tank design, the car burst into flames.  Three children were killed.  At his sentencing, the judge gave George (this was his third DUI offense) a twenty-five year prison term, of which he must serve at least twenty-two.
     No one is winning here.  Two parents have lost their children, George's three boys will grow up without their father, the taxpayers must pay for yet another prisoner, and everyone involved has incurred a wound, a deeply tragic wound, which will never fully heal.  The parents have stated that they forgive George, but that he should nonetheless be held accountable for his actions.  George daily expresses remorse for what he did and understands that he will never be able to undo it.
     Yet the pain remains.  How do we redeem it?  The root meaning of redemption is to "set free."  This becomes very clear when we set redemption into the idea of God.  It is then that we see its true character and effect.  Because God is there, and because God is all powerful and all loving, we can believe that somehow, some way, he is working, in love, in this tremendously tragic situation to, somehow, some way set people free from it.  The pain and regret will never go away, but they are not without hope or bereft of meaning.  Life has purpose, life has a point.  Jesus died, and Jesus rose.  Death, inward or outward, is not the end.  God is there.