Beautiful and Terrible

I came across a quote recently while reading a friend of a friend of a friend's blog.  I guess the truth of the matter is that I was chasing internet rabbit trails.  You know, the long twisty ones that beckon you further and further until you have no idea why you sat down at the computer in the first place?  Those are the ones that I'm talking about.  This particular trail, however, ended with this treasure: 


"Here is the world.  Beautiful and terrible things will happen.  Do not be afraid." Frederick Buechner


This strikes a chord with me.  A pretty deep one.  So I had to research the quote and the context a bit further.  Essentially, it seems that Buechner, a theologian, states this in the context of God's promise of His presence.  His nearness is our good.  Our circumstances are not our good.  The promise of the presence of the One we call Emmanuel is our good.  And the world, our circumstances, will display the fantastically beautiful and the horribly terrible.  But He is near.  We need not be afraid.

I think the reason this strikes such a deep chord with me is because I love the risking taking beauty of it.  I believe in the message encapsulated in the quote.  I love the idea of living life fully, without fear, and with the assurance of the presence of God Himself.  I long to be able to communicate this kind of courage and assurance to Buster.  And at the very same time and in the very same breath, I want to protect Buster from every possible terrible thing that could ever come our way.  What mom doesn't?


Today I am celebrating with one friend as she welcomes her fifth child into the world.  And I'm grieving with another as she is saying goodbye and waiting for a loved one to be ushered into death.   


Beautiful and terrible.  And honestly, both stories have threads of beauty and pain.  What story, fully lived, does not?


And, according to my conviction which is sometimes even reflected in my experience, He is present in both.


So, shortly, I will gather up a sleepy Buster from his afternoon nap.  We'll pack ourselves up in the stroller and head out into the world to see what we see and find what we find.  And, hopefully, the steady message that I will learn to communicate is: "This is the world, Buster, we will not be afraid.  He who is the both the Good Shepherd and the Sovereign One, is present."