Looking at Ugliness

by Francine Biere
Published January 28, 2006

Blessed are those who mourn … Matthew 5:4 Part 1

On first glance, most people find great comfort in this verse. Grieving over loss brings startling clarity to just how fragile our lives are. But, if Jesus is instructing us on how we should live, then He is telling us we should mourn – an action, not necessarily a reaction.

It's easy to live in a nice Christian world we create with our lovely churches and our programs designed to meet the needs of church members. We can experience contentment and peace in doing the right thing. We find satisfaction in that safe and secure environment where we know what to expect. We reach out to the less fortunate through programs designed to help those we'll never see.

That's the problem. If we never see the faces of destitution or never witness the consequences of evil, we remain isolated in a pristine environment and never get dirty with humanity. Looking at ugliness, sorrow, and suffering directly conflicts with the world's desires of happiness at any cost.

I think missionaries are an example of those who mourn. They grieve for those who don't just have less. In many cases, they have nothing, especially when compared side-by-side with the lovely lives we have fashioned for ourselves. There are missionaries who are filled with a deep sorrow for those who are imprisoned not only by circumstance, but also by their own sins.

There is another mourning that we rarely even want to acknowledge and that has to do with ourselves. As casual Christians, we've become complacent in the world and often go with the flow. We too easily accept the things we can't change. We would rather talk the talk than walk the walk.

We look at those who are evil and quickly speak out against their actions. We can even use the phrase, "hate the sin, love the sinner." But how do we love the sinner? How do we love that child molester we've seen on a cable news network, or worse, in our local newspaper? How do we love the man who stalked and killed people and seems quite proud of that fact? How do we love those who ensure drugs are plentiful? Or, how do we love those who traffic in people, selling them to the highest bidder for reasons we can't even comprehend?

Mourning means going beyond the pretty platitudes we use in both our talk and our walk.

It's easy to use the excuse that we can't but harder to ignore God can empower us to do so. However, before we can even look beyond the sin, we must mourn for those who are ruled by dark forces. If you are naïve enough to believe there is no such thing as spiritual warfare, then you aren't even keeping up with the news and its reports of rape, murder, and mayhem.

We don't live in a very pretty world. To ignore evil and pretend it doesn't exist is exactly what Satan wants. On the other hand, to recognize it and think it has nothing to do with us might be an even worse sin.

It's so easy to leave the mourning to those who are in the missionary fields. However, if we truly seek God's purposes in our lives, then we need to look within our own hearts and souls. Are we so enticed by the world that we ignore the evil all around us? If we do nothing, then by omission we allow evil to continue.

There was a young boy walking along a beach early one morning with his grandmother. The tide deposited a number of starfish on the beach, leaving them to die. As the two walked, the little boy ran ahead and began picking up starfish and throwing them back in the ocean. When the grandmother caught up to him, she asked what he was doing. He quite innocently said he was throwing the starfish back so they could live. The grandmother looked down the beach and told him there were too many and it wouldn't make much difference. The boy turned, holding up a starfish, and replied, "It makes a difference to this one." He then tossed the starfish back into the ocean and proceeded down the beach.*

If we look at humanity as a beach full of dieing starfish and turn away because we don't want to get our hands dirty or we believe we can't make a difference, think about the ones we could've saved. If we do not mourn, then we'll never even try to save one.

*This story, in various forms, has been passed along via email with no credit as to the author.

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