One tragedy to another.  You've no doubt read about the horror that a suicide bomber wrought in Kabul yesterday.  Over eighty people lost their lives.  No words can describe the pain that continues to visit this city and the country of which it is the capital.  We wonder when--and how--it can possibly end.  As Reinhold Niebuhr observed, humans can live rather morally when they are themselves; set into a society, however, they cannot as easily do so.  We can be peaceful in the sanctum of our own hearts, but we must often consider less than peaceful methods for resolving bigger issues.

     I do not pretend to propose the solution to Afghanistan's problems.  I do, however, note that the world will need to make--and indeed, has already made--difficult choices in regard to helping this battered nation. Few of us want to kill, even fewer of us want to die.  Yet we are faced with people who seem to think very little of the pain of either one.
     And that is ultimately an issue of the heart.
     Hence, however bewildering he may at times be, I'm thankful there is a God, a God in whom all of us--not just a few--can willingly trust.
     Pray for the people of Afghanistan.