By Chaplain Harold Graham
Unfortunately in our world, tragedies happen and they happen often
In this day when we have access to news and information from all over the globe, awareness of these events is nearly a daily occurrence. This causes a sense of insecurity in people of all ages. The younger children have less ability to understand the event itself. Often they pick up on the anxiety in those around them.
It is necessary to come to grips with the tragedy ourselves before we can help our child through it. Our own innate desire to be in control often comes into conflict with understanding. There are issues and events that defy human control; weather related issues, natural events and just plain accidents all fall into the fact we cannot control these things or what other people may or may not do. The only solution is to be able to accept the truth about what happened ourselves, before attempting to explain it to a person with less abilities to comprehend.
Speak to your child on their level. Many parents attempt explanations that are far more advanced that the child can take in. Know your child, but at the same time do not grossly underestimate their abilities to come to an answer with which they can have peace. Be honest and if you do not understand, admit it to them. But reassure them that you will get back to them on it, remember, the goal is to reassure.
A related issue is why do tragedies happen? If God is a God of love, why then is there pain and suffering? If God’s love is the only thing we examine then this question leads to faulty conclusions and faulty conclusions lead to poor explanations to our child.
We live in a world that has been flawed by the sin in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3: 17-19; Romans 8: 22, 23). Know that this current state of things is not the way God designed them to be in the beginning. It is a consequence of man’s failure. We have tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, epidemics and disease, etc. None of these are directly the fault of any human being, yet they still happen and they happen to good people.
Many tragedies are the direct result of human actions or inaction. Weget offended and injured and in some cases, death is the result. Sin is a huge factor in tragedies when those we love are affected. We live in a cause and effect world where every action has a consequence. These interactions with a child can be a wonderful opportunity to teach this truth for their well being. Be willing to share the truth of what happened and why it happened with them, you may be surprised at the results.