Not the Way We Planned It
Earlier this week, one of many planned memorial services was held for Delaware State Trooper Matthew “Ty” Snook, killed in the line of duty just days before Christmas at a Wilmington DMV. Snook leaves behind a grieving widow and one-year-old daughter, countless brothers and sisters in law enforcement, and a community grappling to understand how such an evil act snuffed-out the life of a virtuous and kind public servant.
At a candlelight vigil in Hockessin, a former wrestling team member from his days at St. Mark’s High School told news station KYW: “I guess this is part of God’s plan and He’ll bring a greater good from it. We just have to find a way to live without Ty here.”
The sentiment offered in a time of grief is certainly understandable. How do we wrap our hearts around such a profound loss, coming at the hands of such hate? How does his family and his community find the new way forward?
Perhaps this is the core question of the Epiphany Feast: Where do we go from here? How do we move forward?
The traveling magi – outsiders and astrologers who had no initial faith connection to the promised Messiah – follow a star that leads them to ask the question: How do we reach this newborn King? Where do we find Him?
Interesting to note that the very thing these men spent their lives studying – the skies – led them to find God. God uses everything – our hopes, dreams, fears and failures, our likes and dislikes – to lead us deeper into relationship with Him. He never stops offering His Love.
Recall again the words of Trooper Snook’s classmate: “This is God’s plan and He’ll bring good from it.”
Admittedly, God did not “plan” for this murder to occur. The ultimate gift of free will that has been given to each of us allowed the trooper’s murderer to choose hate and evil instead of virtue and mercy. So, to be clear: God didn’t want this or plan this. But in His Omnipotence and Love – for reasons beyond our understanding – the Lord will use Officer Snook’s life and death to bring about a greater good.
I don’t know what that will be, of course, and this is not to say that there still won’t be fallout, long-term suffering and grief to process. His family and community have a long Calvary road to climb together. And yet, there are signs – like stars in the sky – that point the way to new beginnings and ways forward: organizations paying funeral costs and a home mortgage loan; a greater community respect for law enforcement; and for many, a return to God after having wrestled with the big questions of life that often come after sorrow and tragedy.
God brings good out of the journeys we travel in life, even when “Herod moments,” as I like to call them, try to block our way: the cancer diagnosis; the traffic accident; the break-up that you didn’t want; the job offer that never came; the failed exam; the miscarriages; the countless losses in whatever way they come to us. There are many ways that “Herod” shows up to try to block the light and crush the Christ-life within.
But notice what the Magi teach us when just such Herod-moments happen: Find another way to travel. Let the power and love of Christ conquer whatever roadblocks you and I may encounter along the way.
To me, that is the outpouring of Epiphany grace: an encounter with Christ changes us, empowers us and guides us – or at least it should – each time we come to Him in Word, Sacrament and community. When we are here, He is here: and He feeds us and then leads us to new ways forward.
We should never be the same when we bring our gifts to Christ and ask Him to transform them. And to be clear: your gifts don’t have to be perfectly wrapped and sparkle like gold. Bring Him the gift of your brokenness and your fear: He’ll use it and transform it, setting you on a new path forward. Give Him your disappointments and challenges: He’ll walk with you in them and guide your steps to better horizons. Allow Him into your anger and hurt: He will gently touch and heal those places within in order to set you and others free. It is those gifts He will transform; those gifts that He will use to move you toward home via a new way.
There will always be Herod-moments that try to stop the Light. There will always be Herods in this world who want to drown love, hope and healing. But Herod doesn’t have the final word. God does, and His word is the same one echoed by Isaiah in our first reading: Rise.
“Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem!” proclaims the prophet. The Light has come. Darkness may cover the earth, but on you the Lord shines.
No matter what you face, says Emmanuel: Rise and shine.
It may take time; it won’t be easy. There will be setbacks and grief along the way. But have no doubt and no fear: Christ has come to be with us. When we surrender our will to His: we rise and shine. When we give Him our fears and failures, knowing that He never lets us go: we rise and shine. When we come to Him and ask for grace through Word and sacrament: we rise and shine.
I can’t think of a better aspiration for this new year that has just begun: Like the wise seekers of the East – the outsiders who kept searching for the true King and didn’t allow Herod to block their journey – don’t give-up. Trust. Pray. Keep showing up before the Holy Family. Find a new way.
Herod-moments can never crush us when we cry out our hope in the One who makes us rise in Him. Herod-moments never stop us when we never stop searching diligently for God’s grace and offer him our true homage, the homage He desires: our hearts, our lives, our everything.
Time with Christ changes us for the better, always, and sets us on the right path forward. He never fails us, even when the road doesn’t always seem clear.
What happened to Trooper Ty Snook in the days leading up to Christmas is an evil beyond words, thus proving that there are Herod-like forces that still desire to extinguish the forces of light and love in this world.
But look how good our God is – our Emmanuel: into the darkness of that night came the light of a community who refused to let hate conquer. All who loved Ty and honored his life and service showed up together to find a new way forward, a way to bring light to others in his memory and his name. They came to a grieving widow and daughter to let them know they did not have to face the darkness of Calvary alone. They brought their gifts – they raised their eyes – and found a way to walk by light.
Herod-moments never win when we travel the road to Christ together. For those who love and honor Trooper Snook, an entire community is finding that way forward, in God’s love.