Aylan | All is Well

Don’t Look Away From This Picture:

Don’t, even though you want to. I want to.

So much so, I want to look away. But I won’t. Not this time.

It’s his tiny shoes that get me. Still on his feet.

Eyes are important. Seeing is important. God is a God who sees and knows. And acts.

And we need to be people that sees and knows. And acts.

He has a name. It is Aylan. And he wanted to come to Canada. To escape the horrors of his home. He had family, waiting for him there.

And now he is dead. And so his his brother. And so is his mommy. And his father is grieving–wrecked–devastated.

We want to debate “Kaitlyn Jenner” and Trump’s comb-over and Obama’s Alaska trip and our own bank accounts and our own busy-ness and our own “church budget concerns” and…and….and…..

Yet we want to look away from the reality that is this picture.

I didn’t even know this was going on, until this evening. I was on work travel, buried in meeting minutes and computer systems and scheduling issues and late night dinners and away from any news and…and…and….

I didn’t know, but now I do. And I am sick.

So now what?

Educate yourself–as I needed to do and still need to do more–on what has happened to Aylan, to his family, to millions of Aylans, each with their own name. Read this account from Aylan’s father.

Read Ann Voskamp’s words, here at her blog. They will rip your soul apart.

And then, do something. Ann has a list of things you can do at the end of her post. Or, click here and Do something.

And then, don’t shelter your kids. Tell them. Show them. Teach them, so they can also do something–now, when they are young, and later when they are older and able to make decisions for their families, their communities, their states and their countries.

And then, pray. Real prayer. Earnest prayer. That God will have mercy. I do not understand why He allows such evil to be present in this world. I do not understand, and it even angers me, to an extent. To a pretty substantial extent. But He is God. And I am not. So I will pray for His mercy. And His return. And I will pray that Aylan is welcomed home to God’s arms, even when he was not welcomed home to the land he was trying to get to. Surely that must be so.

³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’