Sitting Ducks

Earlier this week I saw a bizarre news story about a naked man attacking a girl who has autism and her brother at a local park. They were walking around a lake together while their father rode around on a bike. Out of the blue, a man no one knew suddenly charged the girl, knocked her down to the ground, and attacked her brother when he came to her aid. When the police came and tried to arrest him, he jumped in the lake and tried to swim away from them. They had quite a job taking him into custody.

I recognized the family in the news video as people we serve at Bridge. This family frequently attends our events, and I had just seen them at our most recent event on August 12th. So I gave the father a call yesterday to check on them and make sure they were doing okay. It was interesting to hear the story of what happened that day from his perspective.

Because of his own disability the father could not walk far, so he rode a bike around the lake while his teenage kids walked around. They'd walked about a quarter of the way around the lake when he made his first circuit. It was a calm, peaceful day, and they were enjoying the fine summer weather.

By the time he rode around a second time and caught up to them, the scene had changed dramatically. There was a fire truck there, a woman he didn't know was comforting his daughter who was on the ground, and his son was bleeding from a split lip. He was shocked to learn what had happened in the few minutes it took him to bike around the lake a second time. It had all happened in broad daylight with many people right in the area watching. It was entirely unprovoked, and they had no idea why they were attacked.

When I asked him why he thought the attacker did it, he responded that he thought the man had a mental illness and needed help. He bore him no ill will despite what he had done, and hoped he would get the help he needed. He went on to tell me there were lots of people at the lake enjoying the beautiful day: Elderly people, people walking with canes, small children, people of all ages and abilities. He thought of all the vulnerable people he saw that day; people who could be easily hurt by an attacker.

Sitting Ducks.

After our conversation I reflected on the fact that we are all, in a sense, Sitting Ducks in this world. There are many forces beyond our control which can injure us and from which we have no defense. Whether it's illness, disease, aging, accidents, natural disasters, injustice, foul play or attackers, we are all vulnerable all the time. We never know when misfortune may befall us, when we may be hurt in some way or even killed. And there is often no rhyme or reason to it, no rational process by which we could avoid harm - we're just blindsided - like this father riding a bike at a busy park on a sunny day.

Like him we may have the sense that we're safe, and it can be a great shock when something happens to shake our sense of security. These are times that can challenge our faith. Especially if we pray, and many of us do, for God's protection. We may then ask ourselves, why didn't God protect me? Why did God let someone or something harm me? We may strain to see the sense in it, and search for a way to explain it: Maybe God allowed this so that I would become more aware of and compassionate towards victims like myself and their needs -  maybe I'm supposed to do something to help these people. There must be some reason.

Or we may look for a way to prevent it. This father said he thought they needed more police at the lakeside park to protect the people who come there. I remember musing that the attacker obviously was not making rational decisions, so I wasn't sure police presence would make a difference in that case.

It's not a comfortable being a Sitting Duck.

We human beings prefer certainty, safety, a feeling of invulnerability. We Christians often like to feel that we have God on our side and that nothing can hurt us because The Almighty has our back. When bad things happen to us we cry out: Why has God allowed a bad thing to happen to a good person?! How could a family already struggling with the challenges of disability being attacked possibly be a good thing on any level?! It's easy to get wound up thinking about things like this, and not really feel like you're getting anywhere. 

Perhaps a better question for us to ask is: Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people? After all, every one of us falls short of the glory of God, and yet God offered the beloved Son as a sacrifice that we might have eternal life.

In the final analysis, we are not God and we don't have God's omniscience. Therefore, we cannot know why God allows things to happen the way they do. We can only have faith that, whatever the reason, if it's God's will there is a good reason. We are called to place our hope and trust in God, regardless of the vagaries of life.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart
   and lean not on your own understanding;
 in all your ways submit to God,
    who will direct your paths."                                                                                               

                                                          Proverbs 3:5-6