The Measure of A Life — reflecting on recent events in Pakistan

My phone buzzed and I was greeted by a video link with the words: “Due to the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran in Jaranwala, the situation became very tense. Many churches and houses of Christians have been set on fire. Christians are forced to leave their homes.”

Right below it was this image:

Within the next forty-eight hours, I also received covers of this event done by BBC, Pakistan Christian Post, and Christianity Today.

The chat group erupted with concern and prayers. The Pakistani pastor in the group planned swiftly for the nineteen-hour road trip to assess the situation and bring encouragement. He then sent us pictures and a couple of video footage, one of them had a woman who was weakly making some repeated demands until she suddenly passed out.

This is the kind of thing that puts people off religion, because of the violence, havoc, and destruction that occurs.

Just last year, Pakistan had nearly a quarter of its land submerged in floodwaters. There has to be so much to do to uplift all lives. Yet a religious cleric’s word can incite entire groups to engage in such lawless acts, causing horrendous trauma and suffering to whole communities. More than twenty churches were burned and desecrated and entire villages were also…