Eleanor

I got the news not long after I had finished my second helping of ice cream while I was on vacation. A friend of mine had just died. She starved to death. We weren't close friends, but I knew her. I had hugged her. She is the first person I've ever known who has died from malnutrition. I had heard the stats before, but this time, one of those stats had a face and a personality.

Eleanor was a little girl who attended the Lifesong school in Zambia that Abby and I visited this past summer. Her health was poor and her spirit was weak when we saw her this summer. She was neglected by her family and she was malnourished. Dru Smith, the missionary we stayed with in Zambia, described Eleanor as one who had "lost the will to live". Despite weighing only about 25 pounds as a 6 year old, there were times when her health seemed to be improving. In fact, I got an email from Dru that she had finally been admitted to a hospital and we being fed from an IV. I was hopeful for little Eleanor.

But then I read the next email in my inbox which read: "There is a new angel in Heaven tonight. Eleanor will suffer no more. May her soul rest in peace."

Eleanor died. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't do anything but cry. It's been a few days now, but the same question keeps nagging at me? The question is: Why?

Why is the world so different where I live than where Eleanor lived? Why do I get as much ice cream as I want and she essentially starved to death? I wonder if she ever got to taste ice cream. Why is the world so different in two different places? Why do I live in a place where kids do not die from the things that caused Eleanor to die? WHY? WHY!? It gets me angry. I thought I'd feel guilty, but that's not what I feel. I feel the kind of anger that I think I would feel if somebody slapped my wife. I'm angry and I want to set things right. I want to do something about it.

Lord, I know you are good, even when things seem so bad. I know that you hate injustice and that you will one day bring reconciliation to this broken place. You will make all things right. I don't understand, but please give me understanding. Please give me understanding that leads to right action. Please use us, your church, to bring your justice and your peace and your compassion to this world today.

"I know the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy." Psalm 140:1

"Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep." Luke 6:25