In this I am staggered

How?
How can His heart not be shattered to countless slivers of broken emotion?
How can He stand to see the unmitigated sorrow of just one person?
How can He bear to know the daily miseries of every. single. person on this earth?

I see a glimpse of one person's heartache,
                and it saddens me for an hour.
A longer look
                and I am changed for the day.
A serious examination
                and I am no longer just thinking about if for
                          a day,
                          a week,
                          a month,
                but for years afterward.

How does God do it?

Of all the amazing
                and beautiful
                       and impossible
                              and inspiring
           things that God does,
this, perhaps, is the most staggering to me:
           that he can stand the whole tsunamic force of human emotion and sin;
           that he does not stop pouring himself out
                        even though he sees
                        the utter ruinous depths of our hearts;
            that He does not simply
                       set the Earth spinning,

                                              let it go,

                                    and let it burn. 


But he gives joy.


                     life.

                     love.

                     peace.

                     breath.
                      
                     comfort.

                     forgiveness.

                     companionship.

                     a never-ending flow of things we need.