Shalom

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It’s nearing two weeks since the unfortunate events that unfolded in Garissa. The total death count has oscillated between 142, 147 and 148, but we all know that none of those figures can be reduced to a mere  statistic. These are the young lives who promised to offer so much to our country but they were brutally robbed of that chance.

Ever since, the county has been engulfed in a state  of abject grief. Most affected have been the parents, relatives and friends to the victims. Some were forced to listen as the terrorists gloated over the phone about the imminent deaths of their loved ones. If that wasn't enough, it has emerged that there were warnings given foreboding an attack but those warnings fell on deaf ears. When the attack did come, the response wasn't the quickest. 8 hours later is when a sense of tranquility had come upon the college but by then the damage had been done.When the dust had finally settled, most families were placed in the unenviable position of trying to identify their kin amidst badly mangled bodies at the Chiromo funeral parlour.

Their pain is excruciating to say the least. My gratitude goes out to those volunteers who provided counseling to the victims: such acts of kindness were welcome respite amidst all this negativity. I know I can’t empathize with them as much because I have never experienced loss on such a high magnitude like the way they have. It’s so difficult to imagine what they are going through. Where do you even begin to offer counsel? While I may be at a loss to offer words of encouragement, I believe I know someone who wouldn't be; his name is Jesus.

I believe he knows what they’re going through after all he has seen it before; life being cruelly taken away from others and he shares in their grief. He felt it during Lazarus death and  he wept at the sight of it.He feels it today as his spirit residing in many other people who have gone through the same pain of watching their loves one being felled by the bullets of a terrorist. He is a compassionate God and thus invites us to cast our sorrows on him as inferred in 1 Peter 5:7. He promises us to give us a peace that transcends human understanding when we pray to him(Philippians 4:7) because he is the prince of peace(Isaiah 9:6).

The nation and media may soon after switch focus to other activities and forget the victims of this tragedy but he won't. It is common to feel isolated and alone in the face of such a travesty but he is there, he always is, he never leaves us or forsakes us(Hebrews 13:5). What a comforting assurance during such trying times.

Jesus is a healer and if there’s one thing he is good at as evidenced through the cross, it is healing and mending brokenness of others by heaping it on himself. The pain can never be forgotten  but it can be mitigated with time. It is imprudent to expect things to go back to normal for these victims, living with emotional scars is the new normal. However, whether it takes months, years, decades, he can heal the broken heart and give them peace to move on and start a fresh even offering reconciliation to the killers, however difficult.

  

Rest in peace fallen comrades, and may Jesus bring abundant peace and comfort to the surviving victims, friends and family of those who lost their lives and the nation at large.