Joy to the World?

I had finished my sermon before last week's tragedy in Connecticut, and on Saturday morning returned to ponder a line from Philippians 4:  "Rejoice in the Lord, always, and again I say, rejoice."

But how does one rejoice in the aftermath of such pain and tragedy, I wondered?

I'm not sure.

But here's a poem I wrote earlier this year on Good Friday.  The thoughts seemed pertinent to me . . . and I'll offer them here.

Good Friday

This is the moment Christ died:
As I write these words
In the world's misery
On a sunny afternoon.

And I feel oddly melancholy
Listening to the birds
And pondering why
We pass away so soon.

But time is vast
And love quite longer
Than the grief of the past
And the grace that is stronger.