Modern-day Job?

I don’t understand why things like this happen, but I feel a lump in my throat right now for this poor guy:

Sheriff’s deputy Andy McDowell was forced to live a parent’s worst nightmare twice in a matter of minutes.

[. . .]

Rory McDowell, 23, and Cory McDowell, 21, both died within a couple of miles from the home they shared with their father in southern Kentucky’s rural Warren County.

[. . .]

Rory McDowell lost control of his pickup truck coming out of a curve and the vehicle struck a tree shortly before 1:30 a.m., authorities said.

[. . .]

About 15 minutes after the first crash, Cory McDowell’s 1984 Porsche veered off another rural road, went into a spin, struck a tree and burst into flames, authorities said.

Two sons. All of his children. Gone in a matter of minutes in SEPARATE tragedies. Almost like Job.  Sad.

Cloaking the Past in Nostalgia

On June 12, 1987, President Reagan gave a speech that will always be remembered.  "Mr. Gorbachev," he challenged, "TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!!"  Audible to those on both sides of the great barrier dividing East from West, these historic remarks resonated from the great Brandenburg Gate in Berlin- a key point in the system of high walls and barbed wire which symbolized the Iron Curtain.  A gauntlet had been thrown.  Two years later, on November 9, 1989, the wall fell, and for the first time those who had been trapped in the East tasted freedom.  No longer trapped by their communist oppressors, the former East Germans streamed to the West during those first few weeks.  It was a reunification of a divided people, a miracle in our times.

Looking back on those dark days before the walls came tumbling down, how do you think many of the East Germans remember those years of oppression? You might be surprised…