This past weekend, the anniversary of 9/11, a man in New York City attacked a Muslim woman, dressed in a traditional hijab, and set her clothes on fire. Horrible acts of human evil, of every size and threatening everyone, continue unabated.

Should God prevent such evils? To do so would be to eliminate human freedom. If God is to allow us to be free moral agents and to make real choices, there is the inherent risk that people will choose badly.

Horrible acts of human evil, of every size and threatening everyone, continue unabated. Click To Tweet

So human beings stumble into the abyss of wrongdoing. But God does not abandon us. God acts to lift us up. God’s central act of deliverance is Jesus Christ, who enters into the depths of our sinful world, and takes all our sin upon himself, so that we can be forgiven, restored to a right relationship with God, and enabled finally to live as true human beings, in loving fellowship with God and with one another.

May we open our hearts to Christ in faith, so that we can experience His delivering power in our own lives, and become instruments of His transformation in our world.

Sunday’s Scripture Readings:
Daniel 6:25–27
Psalm 34:17–19
II Timothy 4:17–18

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About the Author

Dr. David A. Palmer has been the senior pastor at the United Methodist Church of Kent since 1995. He has a B.A. from Wittenberg University, a Master of Divinity from Duke University, and a Doctor of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary. A native of Wooster, Ohio, he has served three other churches in east Ohio before coming to Kent. He and his wife, Mavis, have three children.