Looking around at our situation gives the impression that we as a nation are experiencing wide-spread trauma. The intractable political divisions, the persistence of racism, the abuse of immigrants, the scandal of income inequality, the irrational resistance to heeding the advice of health professionals, the ongoing plague of violence — to say nothing of pandemic-produced depression — have all contributed to a sense of hopelessness and powerlessness. One symptom of trauma is that one can’t see a way out of it, that one is trapped. St. Paul in the epistle to the Romans reminds us otherwise. Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more. The overflowing grace of God is stronger than any trauma we are going through and provides blessed assurance that all will be well.
