It started Monday with the bombings at the Boston Marathon, then the explosion in west Texas, and it all culminated with the violent manhunt which took place on Friday…It's been a long week for America. Both of these stories have gripped my attention over the past week. The chaos reminded me of events like Columbine, the Aurora shooting, the Newtown shooting, or 9/11. As I, along with the rest of the country, sat and watched the tragedies unfold through endless news coverage I found myself responding in prayer for all those affected by the events and senseless acts. And it appears I wasn't the only one. There is something about tragedies that drives people to seek or offer up prayers for those impacted. Within minutes of the events #PrayForBoston and #PrayForTexas were trending on twitter. It is fascinating to me how people of all faith backgrounds (including those who don’t profess faith) are drawn to prayer. 24 hours before #PrayForBoston was trending Kobe Bryant tore his achilles tendon and people rushed to twitter to express their sympathies and #PrayForKobe began trending across the country. The juxtaposition of these trendind topics is interesting to say the least. Cleary the events that unfolded in Boston are significantly more serious than Kobe’s achilles. But the gravity of the event made no difference, people were drawn to prayer. Whether or not those tweeting are actually praying could be debated, but it does reveal something about ourselves. In times of tragedy or loss we are naturally drawn to prayer.
But there was a strangeness to it all. Twitter and facebook timelines tend to be a place more consumed with photos of lunch, and politically charged memes rather than prayer. But in the hours and days that followed the Boston Bombings social media was transformed into a wailing wall for people crying out for others in need. Although I am suspect that this outcry of prayer really represents hearts reaching out to God for help, I do believe it points to a deeper angst and craving for the divine. Even in an increasingly secularized society there appears to be a deep hidden belief built into humanity that there may be something greater than ourselves behind everything.
There is something deep in each of us that longs for something greater, for a reason for it all, something that demands for something or someone to be in control. When the unexplainable happens our natural tendency is to reach out for a God who may be able to make sense of it all. And no where is this more common than in the face of inexplicable disaster and evil. May we continue to listen to the longing in us for something greater, may we in the midst of tragedy find the God who is present in all circumstances beckoning us toward prayer. And may we never forget that our prayers do not fall on deaf ears.