Tragic, but not unbelievable

On facebook this morning, many of my St. Louis friends are posting elation about the Cardinals amazing postseason win last night, my Denver friends are posting disbelief, sadness and horror over the discovery of the body of a 10-year-old girl who went missing last week, and my Colorado Springs friends are posting on a wide range of topics.  Proof positive that despite our global news feeds, and the availability of instant information, we really only care about what happens in our own backyard.
I learned this truth poignantly when I moved across state lines.  You see, the case of Jessica Ridgeway to me is not an unbelievable horror.  Tragedy, yes.  Unbelievable, no.  Why?  Two reasons:

The first reason: another “unbelievable” story happened 19 years ago…a girl of ten went missing during her walk to a friend’s house.  She was carrying a personal alarm, thanks to another child abduction in our city.  The alarm was found, still going off, in a neighbor’s yard along her route….. about a mile from my home.  Many days later, the girl’s body was found, badly decomposed, in a field downtown….about a 45 minute drive from our neighborhood.  The unbelievably terrible happened in my backyard, and I had to wrestle with it.  A few months later, I moved to a different state, and was shocked that no one in my new area was familiar with the story.  It didn’t happen in their backyard.  They didn’t seem to care.

The second reason I don’t find this unbelievable:  I live in a world where evil is present, and I’m not surprised when it rears its ugly head.  Satan is real.  His demons can convince people to do wicked things more gruesome than I want to think about (much less see in a movie.)  However, I know a man who walked on this earth and told people, “In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart, for I have overcome the world,” and, “my kingdom is not of this world.”  That man is Jesus, and he was (and is) more than a man.  He was the son of God who taught that we ought to love one another.  My ultimate hope is in Him, even when I see and hear about tragedy.  Even when the news is shocking and doesn't make sense, when I can't fathom how someone could do such a thing.  Yes, there is evil.  But, there is also good.  Good was personified in Jesus, and he will have the last word.

I suppose people in Denver, and especially Westminster, will remember the name Jessica Ridgeway for years to come.  I understand.  I will never forget the name of Cassidy Senter.