Aberfan

I consider the terrible grief of an Eternal Father who grieves not only for all that I am, but for all that I could be…  My poor poor God…

Aberfan Disaster (October 1966)

On 21 October 1966 the worst coal mining disaster occurred in Britain.  A coal tip collapsed and caused a landslide from the mountain onto the Welsh village at the bottom of the tip, and especially on the small primary school at the bottom of the mountain.  As a result of this disaster 116 children and 28 adults died.  Most of those people had been in their morning classes at school. 

I have been reflecting on the terrible terrible tragedy that was Aberfan.  So many souls lost so quickly and so much suffering for the people left behind to mourn those very young children.

It is something so terrible that it is almost incomprehensible to imagine the suffering in all of that.

And I have been reflecting on that terrible misery following that event.  Families lost several of their children and nieces and nephews.  It was a terrible and dark time.  And as I reflected on the loss of life in this world, and the terrible grief of the Earthly parents of these children, I as overcome by the terrible grief of God at the eternal loss of life of His Children.

I am a mother.  I have always wanted to be a mother.  And as a mother, I have loved my children with all my heart.  I am not perfect.  Sometimes they make me angry.  Sometimes they are exacerbating.  Sometimes they are exhausting.  Sometimes they are infuriating.  And even in my worst moment – when I am rethinking my entire life – I love them completely…

And that is a human love from a flawed human and a very very imperfect mother, which is just another way of saying that it is flawed – this love of mine for my children.  And I compare that to God’s love.  God who loves me as a Child, but His love is beyond my understanding.  God’s love is so perfect that He feels only love for me.  And that is sort of astounding.  After all, just imagine the pain of a PERFECT and ETERNAL Father who loves me so completely and watches as I destroy my own soul through sin.  If I take a moment to fathom the billions of souls who have offended my God, and the very fact that He continues to allow the universe to exist – even so – well, then I am completely overcome.

I am trying to imagine the pain inflicted on a parent at their child’s deliberate self-destruction.  And then there is an unimaginable magnification of that suffering when one factors in that the Parent can understand – perfectly – the eternal implications of the loss of that soul.  And those eternal implications are more than the death of the soul – they relate to the whole plan for that soul that was disrupted.  It is not only the death in that moment, but rather the death of all the potential, which breaks the Heart of God.

And today, I consider the terrible grief of an Eternal Father who grieves not only for all that I am, but for all that I could be…  My poor poor God…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.