May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves. (Psalm 126: 5-6)

God's watchfulness does not preserve us from every harm. We shall weep and even wail.

A great gift of God is our freedom to choose. This freedom is often misused. Evil choices are made. Today many churches remember the choice of King Herod to kill all the baby boys of Bethlehem (Matthew 2).

Some choices - less than evil - will still cause harm and suffering. In choosing not to see nor to hear we often allow pain to persist. In choosing not to act we can become unintentional co-conspirators in evil.

In Hebrew ra and ra'a are the most powerful words for evil. They are derived from the image of breaking a pot.

An evil choice breaks that which is meant to be whole. Evil seeks to divide. Evil seeks to separate us one from another. Evil, ultimately, seeks to separate each of us from our fundamental selves by separating us from God.

The opposite of evil is to make whole, to hold together, and to bind up what has been broken.

In responding to evil - caused by ourselves or others - we have choices. God is ready to inform and empower these choices. We must, however, choose to invite God to join us in making the choice.

If we choose, even in our weeping, to sow the seeds of loving kindness we shall return carrying sheaves of binding wholeness.

Above is Holocaust by Hans Hofmann.