I’m Angry and Sad and I DO Know What I’m Going to Do About It

I am so deeply moved by the atrocities of recent weeks.

From the horrific murder of a young Ukrainian girl, Iryna, fleeing the invading army of a predatory totalitarian state to the murder of a peaceful Christian political activist and young father, Charlie. There were more school shootings, including young kids targeted for being Christians. There are Christians being terrorized and slaughtered in Nigeria, a grossly unreported and all-too-common reality. Hatred for Jews is alarmingly common.

I am horrified by the ongoing practice of and enthusiasm for the dismemberment of our youngest girls and boys in abortion and the rise in killing other vulnerable people like the unwell and the old.

Maybe you, like me, feel anger, frustration, sadness, and a lamentable bewilderment. What can I do?

Online expressions of rage are often feckless or counterproductive, fueling the very fire we are burning in.

So, what to do? I don’t know, for sure. But I’ll tell you what I’m trying to do and maybe that will be an encouragement to you.

Tragedy sharpens grief and sorrow sharpens focus.

It can sharpen a hatred, and fuel a murderous vengeful heart. And it can do the same for good.

I want my pain to fuel focus on both the Kingdom of God and love of neighbor.
One big picture thing. One close to the ground. Both connected.

How does God usually work in the world? In vocation—by calling people to do his will and work.

I believe leaning into your calling is a noble response to evil.

I know my calling is to share stories with kids who are being formed into the adults who make choices about whether or not to be brave in the face of evil, to do what’s right no matter the cost. I am not just entertaining kids, I’m helping them become who they are and will be.

It’s an honorable calling, and I’m honored to serve families this way. It’s a big project, for me. It matters. It’s not easy. The stakes are high. So, instead of raging at my enemies online, I’m writing a story about Picket Longtreader, a heroic soldier who helps rescue a young orphan.

I’m also feeling a keen call to love the people in the first sphere of my stewardship, my family. I am trying to love my wife, my kids, and to love and honor my parents.

Impotent rage is not righteous anger. I know anger is sometimes an appropriate gesture, but it is not a good posture of life.

Can you do one thing that is “big” and one thing that is “local” this week? Can you lean into your vocations and say yes to Jesus in what you’re clearly called to? You probably don’t have to do anything new, just show up faithfully to what you’ve already been called to.

Maybe the best way to respond to the horrors of the world is to modestly, defiantly live out our vocations faithfully where we are. The more anonymous and closer to home, the harder for most of us. It’s easy to make pronouncements on social media (or a newsletter) about what is right, it’s hard to lay down your life for your wife, or to patiently serve a sick family member.

The enemy loves murder, and chaos, and hates the family and children. He hates you going to church. He loves it when you’re angry and inactive, and he hates it when you take good action. So make life, and make order, and bless and serve the least of these.

Mow the grass. Make pancakes for a child. Read the Bible. Pray and think. If you’re not involved in a daily Bible reading and prayer habit, then start now. (I recommend the daily office.) Go to church. Do good to your father and mother. Write a poem. Take a walk. Send money to a missionary. Buy a veteran a meal. Clean your desk.

Order is defiance. Self-sacrifice is defiance.

Many said “Make love, not war” in the sixties, but we must make war by loving. Self-sacrificial love is the way of Jesus. It is the weapon we make war with.

I am so grateful to you, my readers. I have met thousands of you and I find you to be the finest people. You love your kids, and love the truth, and you do extraordinary things (often unseen) to love and bless others. Thank you. I see you. I guess, really, that I only sometimes see you. But God sees you.

Your “ordinary” vocations matter so much. Mine do too. Let’s show up, even in our anger and grief, and work with anticipation for the coming Kingdom of God.

I feel truly honored to be your ally.

Speaking of allies, the first ever foreign translation of The Green Ember is now out. I’m so delighted to share that it is in Ukrainian. Ukraine is home to countless Christians (it was known as the Bible Belt of the Soviet Union), and I have had a heart to share my hopeful stories with the children of that nation for a long time. My prayers and support are with the brave people of Ukraine, especially my brothers and sisters there. Please join me in praying that these books find and serve many homes and hearts in Ukraine!

“War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.“
J. R. R. Tolkien

God give you joy. I am rooting for you, and…

I’m on your side,
Sam