This week the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary School have grabbed our attention for understandable reasons. The atrocity of killing 26 people, mostly children in their first grade classroom, is inconceivable to all who think about the event. Though I do not know any of the families affected, as a parent and grandparent, I have felt deep sorrow since that time, and have prayed for those who had such great losses.

One of the classes I teach for Biola’s School of Education is predominantly elementary school teachers. An assignment was already posted on Friday for interaction in an online discussion group, but I sensed the need to “change the subject” and invite these teachers to talk about the day’s events. One of the elementary school teachers was really struggling that day, and wrote her concerns and questions in the blog. She expressed her heartache for the parents and their children, and her desire to present God as a God of love and compassion. Yet, she was stuck on the question, “How could a loving God allow something like this to happen?” Realizing none of us can fully explain the “whys” of tragedy in our world, I decided to respond with the words that follow:

“Mary, I appreciate the sincere questions you are asking as a Christian in response to the Conn. tragedy. These kinds of events not only bring intense sorrow, but they also raise questions for all of us that border on unanswerable. I do believe, however, that we as Christians have some insights into our world . . . what God says is true about our world. I have just a couple of thoughts that I think are important to remember, though I would not claim they answer all of your questions.

First, events like this tragedy remind us that we live in a world where evil truly exists. I'm sure psychological and sociological explanations will be brought forth about this deranged young man who did the shooting. No matter how you explain it or attach blame, his actions against innocent young children are an example of extreme evil destroying human life. We live in a world where the sinfulness of human beings is capable of producing this. Sometimes we forget that in our civilized USA over 40 murders occur on the average each day. We do not notice the extent of this because we do not know the victims and the killings happen separately. So, a shocking event like this is a reminder of the fallenness of our world, and that most of the time we are protected by God from the evil that exists around us.

But the second "reality" that is much mor