Rob Reiner and his wife found dead; police probe homicide

Famed Hollywood director and actor Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle Singer Reiner have died, a family spokesperson said yesterday. Los Angeles police said they are investigating what they called a homicide at a home in Brentwood. At this writing, officials have not identified a suspect or person of interest in the deaths. Political leaders and actors who worked with Mr. Reiner are offering tributes to him from across the country this morning.

The tragedy is part of what is being called a “heartbreakingly violent weekend.”

Police now say a father-and-son duo staged the horrific attack yesterday on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach in Australia. At least fifteen people were killed, and dozens more were injured. The victims ranged in age from ten to eighty-seven; among them was a Holocaust survivor.

The bad news doesn’t stop there. A weekend shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island left two students dead and another nine people wounded. Police said late last night that a person of interest they had detained will be released after the investigation took a “different direction.” The release means that whoever is responsible for the shooting may remain at large. The tragedy is the latest in a long string of campus shootings this year.

In addition, US officials said two US soldiers and a civilian American interpreter were killed in Syria on Saturday after they were ambushed by a likely ISIS gunman. And a Georgia woman walking laps in a park after attending a Christmas program at a nearby church was doused with a toxic chemical in a random attack. She suffered severe burns to her face and body; her assailant is still on the loose.

Right now, you may feel overwhelmed and wish I had begun this article with good news rather than with these tragedies. So do I. But our response to these stories tells a story of its own worth reflecting on today.

Why this day matters so much to me

My father died on this day in 1979. As a result, December 15 will always be a hard day for me.

Upon reading about today’s significance for my life and family, I’m sure that you felt compassion for us. However, unless you lost someone you love on this day, I cannot imagine that today’s date provokes my level of grief for you.

This is to be expected, of course. If everyone felt the same level of pain that anyone feels on a given day, it’s hard to imagine how society could function.

Those close to the Reiners and to the victims in Australia, Rhode Island, Syria, and Georgia are grieving in indescribable ways today. If you have lost someone you loved, you have been there. The day my father died, there was nothing my family and I could do but stand paralyzed in the storm of shock, pain, denial, and tragedy that enveloped us.

If everyone felt every day what we felt that day, life could not go on.

Contemporary media and compassion fatigue

But there’s more to the story.

Numerous studies have shown that social media makes some people less empathetic to the news. It reduces time spent with people offline; the epidemic of misinformation online especially hardens us to what we read.

In addition, being inundated with bad news can desensitize us to it. We become calloused, feeling that “there is only so much bad news I can take,” and choose to ignore the news or at least respond with less empathy. Social media also creates a culture of comparison and competition, negatively affecting our compassion for others.

And the media barrage of bad news makes us aware of the suffering experienced by multitudes of people with whom we have no personal relationship. Since it is human nature to care more deeply about those with whom we engage more directly, we cannot summon the same level of compassion for someone we don’t know as we do for our family and close friends.

All this to say, it’s hard to imagine that the compassion fatigue so prevalent today will lessen any time soon.

“Ring the bells that still can ring”

Jesus was different. His empathy for every person he encountered was absolute.

When he met the rich young ruler, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him” (Mark 10:21). Despite knowing that his disciples would soon abandon him in Gethsemane, “he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). He interceded for those who crucified him (Luke 23:34), just as he is “interceding for us” right now (Romans 8:34).

Jesus died for all of humanity (Romans 5:8). He died on the cross for your sins just as much as for the sins of those who put him there.

His compassion reflected the heart of his Father. As hard as it would be to die vicariously for someone, imagine the depth of love required to send your child to do just that. I would like to believe that I might possibly step in front of an assailant to take a bullet meant for you. I cannot imagine placing my son or grandchild there.

So know this: Your Father has as much empathy for your challenges and pain today as for any person who has ever lived or ever will. He is grieving with my family and me on this hard day just as he grieves with you on your hard days. Jesus’ tears for Lazarus and his family (John 11:35) are shed today for me.

And, if you are hurting, they are shed for you as well.

So name your pain and place it consciously in the nail-scarred hands of your Savior. When you “cast all your anxiety on him,” you will discover that “he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7 NIV, my emphasis). And you will find that the deeper your suffering, the more profound his presence.

The singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen, best known for writing “Hallelujah,” advised us:

“Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”

Why do you need this wisdom today?

Quote for the day:

“Jesus is the tears of God.” —Peter Kreeft

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