Not long ago, there was a biography on television of Adolph Hitler. It showed material on Hitler’s childhood. You can’t help being drawn to that kind show. The underlying question that comes to mind is, what happened? A vile and repulsive man, to be sure, but seeing photographs of this man as an infant, as a child growing up, is somewhat disarming. It reminds us that the story did not start off bad. Lest we forget, every wasted life started off as a creation of God, planted as a unique vine among us. There is an African American Methodist minister who, at every wedding he performs, says to the groom: “Treat your wife right. Remember that the young lady that you are about to marry is some father’s daughter, some mother’s child.”

What happens in life when a miracle turns into a mess? We’ve …