Our nation is in mourning once again. Not one, but two tragic accidents involving aircraft occurred within days of each other.

Over the skies of Washington, DC – my birthplace and former stomping grounds – a plane and an army helicopter crashed into each other. It seems that the helicopter was flying higher than it was told to fly by air traffic controllers. We don’t know why. There’s no reason to speculate on the cause yet. Of course, that didn’t stop Trump from attempting to score political points by pointing out how the Obama and Biden administrations had imposed DEI on the air traffic controllers and how he fixed that. That may be true, but it’s not the time, Mr. President. It’s just not the time. The country is in mourning. We don’t need yet another lecture on how wonderful you are and how you’re fixing everything the Democrats destroyed. Just do it, and we’ll be happy. But using a press conference on the horror of what happened to score political points? Not good, sir. Classless. Sixty-seven people died in that tragedy, including three army soldiers who were on the helicopter, fourteen members of the U. S. figure skating team, and two Russian world champion skaters.

Then came the news that a medivac plane carrying six Mexican nationals, including a child who had just received life-saving treatment in the U. S. and her mother, crashed unexpectedly into a Philadelphia neighborhood, killing all on board, one person on the ground, and injuring nineteen others. Some families lost their homes. Again, we don’t yet know what happened. The plane had taken off only minutes earlier without incident.

Hopefully, answers will come on how both of these tragedies occurred in hopes of ensuring nothing like them ever happens again.

But answering the technical or possible human error questions of why these tragedies happened will not completely satisfy those who are mourning the loss of loved ones. For them, and for so many others, the question will often be, “Why did God allow this to happen?” Why does God allow tragedies, or any kind of suffering? It seems almost evil to allow a young girl to come to the U. S. to receive successful life-saving therapy, only to be killed in a senseless accident.

We do not know the ways of the Lord. But that hardly satisfies, either. We do know that the Lord has made us as creatures who are not perfect in our ability to do all things well. It is possible that human error is behind both tragedies, either on the part of those flying the aircrafts or those whose job it is to maintain them or direct them in their flights. We are not perfect. God did not make us so. Humility in doing our jobs is a good virtue to have. It keeps us on our toes. It makes us check things twice, and then maybe twice more. Make sure all the screws are tight. Make sure all the instruments are working well. Make sure we’re not taking on too much, overburdened by a job that is already stressful enough. There are lives at stake, truly.

“We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). This is not pablum. This is the truth of God’s revelation in Christ. It takes faith to believe it because the world is so torn, so troubled, so harsh, so violent, and so filled with tragedies that cannot be comprehended. How can such tragedies “work for good for those who love God” or for anybody, for that matter? We don’t know. We just don’t know. But we do know, or at least we have faith, that those who love God will not be forgotten, will not be let down, will not be left behind by a God who keeps His promises. We are an Easter people, and “Alleluia!” is our song.

Perhaps this is all that we have for now. Yet, I know for so many it will not do. Not yet. God help us.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.