RON SIDER
Crying with (the) Trinity
of all of that. She has a wonderful mom and dad who love her, love each other, and love the Lord. Her grandparents adore her. She enjoys an abundance of good food, healthcare, clothes, toys, friends. Her bitter tears when Grandpa left her with the babysitter were shortThe other day, I dropped Trinity Sonita, lived and easily wiped away. my darling little granddaughter, off at a But I ache for the hundreds of milbabysitter. But she didn’t want Grandpa lions of tiny tots who have wrenching to leave her. She cried bitterly, clinging reasons to weep. to me as I finally tore myself away. As Approximately 30,000 children die soon as I got back in the car, my own every day of starvation, malnutrition, or tears turned quickly to sobs. All the diseases we know how to prevent. That way home, my tears were mixed with amounts to about 11 million a year. prayers. Behind most such children is a heartTrinity, I knew, would be perfectly broken mother who must daily battle fine. Her babysitter was a good friend despair as she wonders how she will of our family and a fine woman. Even possibly feed her little ones. before I arrived home, she had called to Millions of young children have lost say Trinity was doing well. And I was both parents to AIDS. For some, a grandokay, too, especially since I would be parent or an orphanage provides a meaable to play with her again in just a few sure of protection, but many face a cruel hours. world all alone. Two things explain my tears! The first, of course, was my love for my grandHe will defend the afflicted among daughter. Nineteen-month-old Trinity the people and save the children of the Sonita has thoroughly stolen her grandneedy; he will crush the oppressor. pa’s heart. For a year now, she and her Psalm 72:4 parents — our daughter Sonya and her husband, Benjamin — have lived with Desperately poor parents sell millions us as Sonya finishes her master’s in art of young girls into prostitution.Violent education and her teaching certification. armed bands like the vicious Lord’s Trinity frequently sits on my lap sharing Army in Northern Uganda terrorize and my breakfast — decisively replacing the rape tens of thousands of girls and boys. New York Times as my breakfast com- All around the world evil men — fathers, panion. Giving her a ride on my shoul- uncles, trusted religious leaders — sexders, reading a book to her, and singing ually abuse children. Wars — especially her to sleep are a part of many evenings. civil wars in dozens of countries — I love this little brown-eyed beauty — snatch away the joy and innocence of and my three other marvelous grand- childhood from millions. daughters living in Pittsburgh — more For perhaps a billion of my grandthan I can say. daughters’ contemporaries, life means But my love for Trinity was only one hunger, abuse, pain, terror, and finally a of the explanations for my tears on the death that is too slow to come. I weep way home from the babysitter. As I drove, for them. I began to think of all the children in the Weeping, of course, must lead to world who have big reasons for crying: action. We know what to do to dramatihunger, disease, neglect, abuse, war. cally reduce poverty in the world.We can My little Trinity is blissfully ignorant increase our giving to effective Christian PRISM 2009
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development agencies and lobby our government to increase foreign economic aid. We can insist that programs to combat the spread of AIDS and support those who have it are vastly expanded.We can work hard to reduce sexual trafficking and sexual abuse. All this urgent, vigorous action is essential. But it does not change the fact that so very many of today’s and tomorrow’s children will experience terrible agony. That truth not only drives us to tears, but it also raises hard questions about God. Why does God allow such ghastly evil to continue? Part of the answer, I believe, is that God wanted persons to be free so they could choose to embrace or reject God and his ways. Since God also made us communal beings, the evil choices of some inevitably produce suffering and agony for others. That is true, but I’m glad it is not the only thing a Christian can say. Matthew 25 shows that somehow, mysteriously, behind every hungry, naked, imprisoned, abused person stands our Lord. The God of the universe — as Jürgen Moltmann rightly says in The Crucified God — experiences the pain of every hurting child. The God we know as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit agonizes more deeply over every suffering son or daughter than even human parents do. The Trinity weeps because of the pain and suffering of every neglected, misused, starving child. The Trinity’s tears, of course, are no substitute for action.The God who weeps is the God of justice who acts in history to correct oppression. Those who worship this amazing God need to do the same. But the fact that we cannot instantly or even quickly end the agony of so many suffering children does cause us to weep as we work for justice. As we work and pray and weep, it helps to know that we are weeping right along with the Trinity. n