Where was God Today? (First published in July 2005 after the London bombings)

I had just finished my breakfast and was contemplating a relatively quiet day, when suddenly a newsflash came on the TV, - ‘London rocked by explosions.’ Immediately my thoughts turned towards Catharine, my beloved daughter. As many of you know, she is studying bassoon at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama in the City of London.

The story unfolded bit by bit. Firstly it was thought that there had been a power surge on the Underground, then we heard that a bus had been blown to pieces. My mind was in total turmoil. Where was Catharine likely to be? Normally she would have been travelling to Aldgate or Moorgate station to go to college. I tried ringing her on her mobile phone - no service. Then I tried all of her housemates. Their phones were dead. Eventually, I was able to leave a message on one of her friend’s mobiles. And then all I could do was wait.

After what seemed an interminable length of time, my phone rang. It was Catharine - she was safe. Tears of relief ran down my cheeks. I could only thank God for keeping her safe.

As the hours have passed, we have realised the severity of the situation. At the time of writing, there have been 37 confirmed deaths and over 700 injured. As the Prime Minister, Tony Blair said, ‘This is not an attack on one nation – it’s an attack on all nations and civilised people everywhere’. It was an awful day, but just think how much worse it must be for those who have lost loved ones, and those who perhaps haven’t been able to trace friends and family who were out and about at that time.

So where was God in all this? Paul talks about love and the good overcoming evil (Romans 12 9-21) and this was indeed evil of the worst kind. No it had nothing to do with religion, just evil misguided people. The vast majority of Muslims abhor and reject what has been done in the name of their religion; and we Christians must reject evil that is and has been done in the name of Christianity today and in the past. Love must and will overcome evil. Communities in London will be drawn together by this atrocity in fighting a common cause - terrorism. Love will conquer all in the end. But for now we rejoice and thank God for the safe keeping of our loved ones; but we must also mourn with those who mourn and we must seek to live in harmony with one another.

Love in Christ.

Penny and Peter