“The explosions of the past week in Boston raise many questions. We cannot help but look at an act of violence that was not random but a very calculated and ask, “Why?” Why would someone or some people do such a thing? Who are they? When will they be caught?
While hopefully the person or people who planned and executed the bombings will be caught soon, we never will really understand why people choose to do such things. The only explanation for such acts is the reality of evil. Evil is a mystery. We can never completely understand it.
However, here are two things we know.
One, that the person who did it was somehow deceived that this was a good idea or that somehow such an action was justified. Our thoughts drive our emotions and eventually drive our actions. Somehow in their mind they came to think their actions were somehow justified or right or even in some warped way good. The human mind can go totally and completely wrong if not fixed on what is good and true and beautiful and divine.
Second, we know that God can bring good out of evil. On Easter Sunday, we noted that Jesus went about doing good. When he saw he evil, he brought good out of it. He turned whole communities around. Evil can inflict its wounds, but it does not have the final word. God can always, always, always bring good out of evil. God can bring redemption out of pain and suffering as he did through the cross. Bringing good out of evil is what God does.
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