Because a little hope dies when someone is hurt
Because a little faith dies when life isn't fair
Because a little child dies when someone grows up



This is why we ache.
Because a little war rages when friends disagree
Because a little peace shatters when families fight
Because a little light snuffs when love is betrayed


This is why we grieve.
Because innocence winks out in the cold of bitter reality
Because optimism folds under the blizzard that we call life
Because once upon a time, that prince just left her sleeping


This is why we mourn.
Because people are drowned in the crush of Everyday
Because souls are disfigured by the horror of simply existing
Because love is murdered by thoughtless scarring words



This is why we wail.
Because the Black Plague consumes a girl, and leaves her all but dead
Because the London Fire rages in a boy, forever changing him in mere seconds
Because the eruption at Pompeii plays out inside a woman, burying all that is good beneath layers of catastrophe
Because a man as indestructible as the Titanic drowns in waves of tragedy
Because the Roman Empire crashes down, and leaves a ruined family in the wreckage of a ruined life
Because the carnage of the Civil War mutilates bonds of community
Because Chernobyl’s poison must be quarantined inside that cavern that was once a whole population
Because everyday lives are ripped to pieces when innocent witches are burned
Because the Twin Towers are blasted to rubble in people’s hearts, even as we speak
Because the slaughter—the bloodbath—of D-day cannot compare to the ravaged lives that walk this earth
Because the Holocaust has utterly decimated millions in unspeakable ways


This is why we rise up.
Because everywhere a hope is lit
Because everywhere a faith rekindled
Because everywhere a child is born



This is why we heal.
Because when tragedies so unbearable should break people completely
The titanium of human strength pushes through
Because a bit of God is in all of us who Believe



This is why we sing.
Because there's more to life than desert and winter and war
Because there's more to people than hate and hurt and despair
Because that tender treasure that is the heart can withstand arctic blasts of cruelty


This is why we rejoice.
Because miracles do happen, and joy is not an illusion
Because the Son is waiting with open arms to pour out inconceivable love
Because the Heaven of peace can only be experienced by those who go through Hell



This is why we live.