Part 2 - The Christmas Truce of 1914, a Crowder Song, and the Presence of God

After hearing the stories of the atrocities and destruction and death of World War I and then hearing of the beautiful story of the Christmas Truce of 1914, I have concluded that God can make his presence known in the most hellish of situations.
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For a few years I have been very interested in the plight of the unaccompanied immigrant children leaving their homes in Central America and making the perilous journey to the United States. I have been blessed and changed by my involvement in this plight. I have also been frustrated because it seems like we could be doing so much more to help, especially in the suburban church world.

In May of this year, it was as if the media discovered this plight and it became an everyday part of the news. Estimates of 70,000 kids making the perilous journey this year alone, shelters on the border are overflowing, the conditions are horrible, women and small children are becoming part of the story, and on and on...

In June of this year I was in large worship gathering at an affluent mega-church in San Antonio. The worship band played the awesome David Crowder song, "I Am":

"There's no space that his love can't reach

There's no place that we can't find peace

There's no end to amazing grace

Take me in with your arms spread wide

Take me in like an orphan child

Never let go, never leave my side."

My mind is prone to wander during a worship service, it's like it has a mind of its own...as I tried to sing this song and engage in praise with 1000 members or so of my family, I couldn't help but think of the first verse of this song and the thousands of people in the shelters on the border and the countless number of people hiding in the south Texas Brush Country and the countless number of people staging on the Mexican side of the border and the countless number of people riding atop the "Train of Death" through Mexico.

It was easy to feel the love and peace of God in this beautiful gathering, but I wondered:

• Can His love reach into the shelters? Can those in the shelters find His peace?

• Can His love reach into the hot and thorny south Texas brush? Can one find peace in that place?

• Can His love reach across the border into the land controlled by the Cartel and Coyote? Can the anxious alien know peace in that place?

• Can God ride atop La Bestia? Can the travelers find peace among the fear and violence on top of the rail cars?

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I think, based on the story of the Christmas Truce of 1914 and many similar stories, the answer is yes...and maybe the more darkness, the more despair, the more likely it is that God will hear the cry of those seeking love and peace.

How will He make His presence known? A miracle, an divinely ordained leader, a wild-eyed prophet...

How does He make His presence known?