‘Acquainted with Grief’

The news of a terror attack in my city hit hard yesterday. While I was safe at home sleeping, someone decided to carry out an act of evil. The loss of life left me speechless.

I had started a big organizing project in my attic on New Year’s Eve, so I just continued that project yesterday. I stopped now and then to listen to press conferences about the attack. But for the most part, I just worked in the attic, doing my best to process this evil event.

Today, I can finally put into words what I am feeling. So, I gave my new “Kind of Blue” vinyl (the essential jazz album by Miles Davis) a spin on the record player and started writing.

New Orleans has been through a lot, but the past 20+ years have been especially difficult. Since I moved to the city in 2003, we have experienced Hurricane Katrina and countless other storms, the oil spill in the Gulf, a rigorous response to COVID-19, and now this. Our city has faced economic struggles, struggles with crime, and government mismanagement (and even crime by government officials). The prime battle in the past few years has been in the form of dramatic increases in homeowner’s insurance rates—making homeownership challenging.

The terror attack is yet another gut punch to our city. The attack was senseless … it goes without saying. This attack appears not simply directed at New Orleans but at our nation.

So how do we process something like this? For me, it begins with the hope I have in Christ.

We often read the Messianic promises found in the book of Isaiah during the Christmas season. It is Isaiah 53:3 and 4 that came to mind as I reflected on the events of yesterday. The prophecy told of one would be “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). Isaiah went on to write: “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4).

Not only can Jesus relate to our sorrows and our grief, He carries our griefs and sorrows. Our griefs and sorrows are related to the rift caused by sin—our desire to do things our own way. Jesus came to remedy our sin problem—all we need to do is believe Him and let Him forgive our sin and give us purpose.

I also thought of Psalm 34:17-18: “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

What promises! My hope today is in the One who is acquainted with grief and has the power over grief. I am crying out to Him as one with a broken heart. With this kind of hope, I don’t have to have all the answers. O God, let me rest in your hope today!

I concluded writing out these thoughts as “Kind of Blue” hit the runout groove. I will publish the post, but I think I will give Miles Davis another needle drop. One thing I have learned in New Orleans—jazz is good for the soul.