The Front Porch March 24, 2022

“Suffering is the refining fire of theology.” I read that last week in a reflection on the war in Ukraine. The day after I read it we began hearing about a missile attack on a theatre that housed hundreds of people who had fled from their homes, many of them mothers and children. The numbers of dead and injured were unknown because rescue workers were hampered by a continued barrage of missiles on the area. Even hospitals have become targets. Yet in the middle of the chaos and destruction I was struck by the picture of a priest in his clerical collar with a stole draped around his neck attempting to bless the dead and pray with the injured and dazed survivors.

The Front Porch March 24, Issue 83