The boy

Browsing through news pictures on Yahoo one day I noticed one that struck me and made me think and feel unlike any one I have seen since. In this prolonged war in Iraq that we are engaged in we often bomb insurgent residences or “safe houses”. Sometimes we hit the right ones and sometimes there is “collateral damage” (i.e. innocent people are killed). Well, there he was: a young boy sitting on top of the rubble of a house (whether it was his or not I don’t know) crying. I can’t imagine the pain and despair that he was feeling at the time. He knows nothing of New York City and the attacks perpetrated on our soil; nor does he know about the nowhere to be found weapons of mass destruction. I am sure this boy just wanted the pain to stop and someone to hold him, assure him, that the whistle of the bombs and the destruction of their targets would stop.

No assurances would come. If they did they were false because the war goes on and on. Another six civilians and a US soldier was killed today in Iraq. The sacrifices our soldiers and their families have made for our safety have been enormous. The tumult that the Iraqi people have gone through has been hellish. I want the war to end and the fighting to stop. But Christ even said these conflicts would be fought and rumored until He comes and sets things right.

Maranatha. Quickly, Lord, please.