God is There
A month ago I was talking to my friend CS about bitterness. It clouds reasoning. It is really important that people not become bitter against God because of the tsunami disaster.
On the way to school last Thursday I was listening to 90.5 FM. A lady read an essay about the people who lost their lives in the tsunami. She seemed to think that such an occurrence is incompatible with belief in any God or maybe belief in a God who cares about humans. She thought that humans have more compassion than a God who allows such catastrophes.
If there is no God, where did the universe come from? How did life originate? From where arose our higher level of thinking that allows us to ponder the significance of the tsunami? Did the lady feel that she had answers to those questions, or did she face them at all?
I think that people have trouble thinking from God's perspective (and that is no wonder since God's thoughts are much higher than ours). They have trouble seeing world events with eternity in mind. If you think about it, the tsunami was really not that bad for the people who died. They experienced terror for a short period of time. Isn't that much easier, much less pain than the person who suffers with a terminal illness for years? Those who remain alive following the tsunami are deeply saddened by loss of family and possessions. But that is not without benefit - such loss may remind them of the fleeting quality of their own lives. It may remind them to search for meaning in life beyond the temporal, possibly leading them to a relationship with God. When we consider that what God most wants for an individual is for him to acknowledge Him, love Him, personally relate to Him - and when it may sometimes require some major disturbance in the individual's life to effect that end, or to effect it more perfectly - should we be very surprised that a loving and righteous God would cause or permit a tsunami?
On the way to school last Thursday I was listening to 90.5 FM. A lady read an essay about the people who lost their lives in the tsunami. She seemed to think that such an occurrence is incompatible with belief in any God or maybe belief in a God who cares about humans. She thought that humans have more compassion than a God who allows such catastrophes.
If there is no God, where did the universe come from? How did life originate? From where arose our higher level of thinking that allows us to ponder the significance of the tsunami? Did the lady feel that she had answers to those questions, or did she face them at all?
I think that people have trouble thinking from God's perspective (and that is no wonder since God's thoughts are much higher than ours). They have trouble seeing world events with eternity in mind. If you think about it, the tsunami was really not that bad for the people who died. They experienced terror for a short period of time. Isn't that much easier, much less pain than the person who suffers with a terminal illness for years? Those who remain alive following the tsunami are deeply saddened by loss of family and possessions. But that is not without benefit - such loss may remind them of the fleeting quality of their own lives. It may remind them to search for meaning in life beyond the temporal, possibly leading them to a relationship with God. When we consider that what God most wants for an individual is for him to acknowledge Him, love Him, personally relate to Him - and when it may sometimes require some major disturbance in the individual's life to effect that end, or to effect it more perfectly - should we be very surprised that a loving and righteous God would cause or permit a tsunami?
posted by Claire at 16:33
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