This world...

...is lost and broken, and today I'm sorely reminded of it.

Tears filled my eyes as I read the story of a young woman who lost her father to the fires of Australia, even as the rest of her family fought for their own lives. Australian police have charged a man for arson -- the potential 300 human deaths and thousands of other casualties in that nation can be attributed to an act of man. Despite my own convictions regarding the death penalty, I felt the desire for vengeance -- for justice -- well up against this man.

CNN reported yet another plane crash, the latest in a rash of questionable air safety. This time, 50 people perished -- crew, passengers, and the resident of the home the aircraft crashed into. One victim was the widow of a 9/11 victim, traveling to Buffalo to continue the humanitarian work she started after he died.

Yesterday, I clicked on a link that took me to the website of a single woman who, determined to have many children, recently gave birth to 8 babies. They join the 6 children she already has at home. Every child in that family was born not out of love, but out of a selfish ambition to be a mom--an ambition that now leads her to ask for donations to support her large test-tube family, as she has "no clear source of income" according to all reports.

My heart is broken for the families of Australia, for those left behind by the tragedy in Buffalo, and for the numerous children of this California woman. My prayers are lifted for them, but even that doesn't seem enough.