Saw a world full of trouble now
Thought, how'd we ever get so far down
How's it ever gonna turn around
So I turned my eyes to Heaven
I thought, "God, why don't You do something?"
Well, I just couldn't bear the thought of
People living in poverty
Children sold into slavery
The thought disgusted me
So, I shook my fist at Heaven
Said, "God, why don't You do something?"
He said, "I did, I created you."
-lyrics "Do Something" by Matthew West
Yes, is generally the reply, God is good.
Is God all-powerful? Can God do
anything?
Yes.
Let’s say there’s a sick person, can you cure them?
I may guide them,
hopefully in most cases, in the right direction to be cured.
My brother died of cancer. I
prayed to God for healing. He did not
heal him. Is God good?
Yes.
According to what I’ve been taught, Satan came from a fallen angel
created by God. If the all-powerful God
created everything, didn’t God create evil as well as sickness, immorality, and
hatred?
…..
What is the essence of cold?
Heat is the measure of change
of molecular kinetic energy (how fast molecules move or vibrate).
Temperature gages molecular motion.
The higher the temperature, the greater the motion. The lower the temperature, the slower the
molecules. At absolute zero, 0 kelvin or -458 Fahrenheit, there is no molecular
vibration or motion. High or low, heat
measures the change in molecular motion.
Cold is not heat’s opposite. Cold
is the absence of heat.
What is darkness in our visible
region of sight?
It is the absence of
energy able to stimulate our visual receptors.
Even a single photon can stimulate a receptor. In the absence of a single photon, one cannot
make dark, darker. Darkness is the
absence of light.
Is God good?
Yes.
Did God create evil?
No. Evil is the rejection of God’s love. Love is union with others in God. Evil
is the absence of love.
The liberties I took in creating the fictional dialogue above have a few similarities to an argument attributed to a youthful Einstein and his philosophic atheistic professor. The original piece, has never been verified as Einstein’s thoughts. However, it resonated with me as a college student. As I wrestled with evil’s origin and essence, I have largely dismissed the fallen angel scenario linking God possibly to creating evil. I was annoyed by others’ vindicated claims ‘the devil made me do it’ or that evil personified was somewhere ‘out there’ beyond my responsibility lurking for opportunities.
A young, cocky, agnostic Einstein once defended that scientists were not responsible for addressing the advantages and detriments of a discovery’s impact on society. The emerging issue of his time was Fermi’s development of the chain reaction and its promise of nuclear energy vs the destructive might of atomic weapons. Though Einstein argued against quantum mechanics at the time, the maturing physicist quickly grew to understand his responsibility in weighing the horrors of atomic warfare. He also understood both good and evil occupy the hearts of men and women.
Throughout our democratic elections, we’ve seen and heard, perhaps been a part of the ugliness and hatred among our presidential candidates, candidates for whom well over 50% of their supporters disliked. Popular media fed the frenzy saturating us with disgust. I’ve sensed a general surrender of hope to cynicism. I’ve watched over time well before the campaigns began, a dissolution for goodness to inconsistent, ego-centric interests.
It is dangerous to think that evil is distant, “somewhere out there” … or to scapegoat, blame the “other” as okay. Evil is more pervasive encouraging one to avoid relationships and empathy for others by allowing the convenient escape into entertainment and consumption. Christian writer and pastor, Johann Christoph Arnold commented people are “Paying to be distracted, (instantaneous cellular, television, Wi-Fi bundles) we let our hearts become callous and are unable to see the world from another’s perspective.”
The vast majority of people carry a little bit of evil and a lot of good. “God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female … God looked at everything he had made and he found it very good.” Gn 1:27-31
Though the pervasive nature of distrust spreads through us all, we, as a community, must come together to live, share, and build the good. We are called to love … to love generously. And that can be tough! It’s easy to empathize with the poor, sick, homeless, imprisoned, … but what about empathizing, walking in the shoes of one holding different values with whom we disagree? We must build change upon authentic dialogue and relationships. Active loving, fulfilling hope must rise from consistent modeled action, not from sensationalized deceiving rhetoric. As novelist and environmental activist, Wendell Berry states, “If change is to come, it will come from the margins. It was the desert, not the temple, that gave us the prophets.”
A socialist, Eugene Debs came from the margins. Debs struggled to understand Archbishop Romero’s support for the poor and disadvantaged of El Salvador, a country under extreme oppression. Years later, Debs wrote of his own transformation, “I recognized my kinship with all living human beings, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest person on earth. I said then, and I say it now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.” When we approach the suffering, the differences of others in this way – by making it our own–we will find that, far from defeating us, it will stir us to compassion and positive action. Moreover, we will find that through community we may seed love and hope for the future.
We will continue to struggle with our personal demons, addictions, but hopefully not alone. Our disease of the spirit won’t simply go away and stay away. But we can choose to turn the battle against it into a positive one – even into a source of strength. Dan, a patient who lost his fight with cancer shared with his care givers throughout his journey, “… the fires through which we must go will leave us either scarred or refined.”
As I’ve written earlier, I do not think the Kingdom is “out there”. Though incomplete and broken, we, our community, are all part of an ever-forming Kingdom “here and now.” I find confidence, wisdom in Mother Teresa’s words. “Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do … but how much love we put in that action.”
On behalf of the PX-90 men, as Thanksgiving approaches, celebrate family, friendship, goodness and the joy of fellowship … and give thanks for the gifts our Father bestows!
PS: Pretty popular so an ad will be attached. Skip it. The Spirit moves through this video. Enjoy!
1 comment:
Bravo Tim. Hope you and yours have a blessed Thanksgiving.
Mike Hey
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