First Baptist Church of Herndon

The New Normal

Linda Soller | Apr 29, 2019

The Monday after Easter on the way to work I thought, ah yes, back to normal. The traffic was back, the school buses were back, it felt like any other Monday. Normal, after all, is the standard, usual, or accepted status. Normal is what we are used to. Normal for you may not be normal for me, but we co-exist. 

When I got to work I realized it wasn’t like any other Monday. That’s when I learned of the suicide bombings in Sri Lanka. It was then I asked myself, “Is this the new normal?”  If we continue to routinely awaken to hear of such violence, will we become hardened to it, or hide away? Tuesday brought more information on the victims. Forty-five children were in the count. Supposedly the attack was in retaliation for another attack in another country.  Sri Lanka was a random target. Christians attending church and people having breakfast. It was Easter.  

I wish this was a truly rare event, but we all know it’s not so rare. Throughout history there have been killings, fighting, and wars in the name of religion. Yet God is not commanding or asking for that. His message is one of love and co-existence. I watched the movie Barabbas. He was the person the people freed instead of Jesus, leading to Jesus’ crucifixion. The movie ended with the great fire of Rome in 64AD. The Christians were initially blamed and Barabbas in his misguided attempt to please God was caught torching buildings. Once thrown in with the other detained Christians he learned he was wrong.  Next, I looked up the fire. Many attributed it to Nero the crazy Roman emperor. The story is, Nero needed to clear part of the city for a new palace, so he had the fire set then blamed the Christians. Even that story may not be true. But what is true is that after the fire there was a resurgence of the Christian faith. People saw fear, hate, violence all around them. God offered love, comfort, and peace. Those Christians of the past, in the face of great adversity and persecution decided to be part of a new normal.

Hundreds of years have passed. We Christians are still here. Maybe we are meant to be the new normal.

Thanks be to God! :o) Linda