Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Suffering

This world is a messed up place. Just in case you hadn't noticed allow me to point it out to you. There are kids, innocent children starving, homeless, parent less. They have done nothing wrong. There are some who will never sleep in a clean bed with a mattress and sheets. There are some who will never know what it is like to be healthy. They are infected by HIV before they have ever made a single choice for themselves. Young girls raped. Young boys abducted. Scared. Hungry. Lonely. Hurting. Suffering.
Worse yet, it is not isolated to one small place on this planet. Or even confined to one large place. It is all over. Everywhere. There is abuse in my backyard. Hunger , pain and suffering on your street.



Yeah, but God exists and He loves us right? All of us? These kids too? He is fair, forgiving, and merciful, right? So how do these two things fit? I know that God is all wise, all knowing, all powerful. He can fix this mess we've made...right?


Then why doesn't He?


(Don't worry, not having a crisis of belief, just trying to understand...)

1 comment:

Kathleen said...

So speaking of suffering I just read a short quote from Pope John Paul II about it. He said that in the mystery of the Body of Christ, a suffering person in any part of the world and in any time in history shares in the work of redemption. (from an enyclical called "On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering.") Catholics also say "I'm going to offer it up" when they are suffering, as a way of drawing near to Christ, and offering up the suffering to him instead of dwelling on it.
I also saw a documentary about Mother Teresa the other day and she felt that Christ is closest to those who are suffering the most---because they have no other things (posessions, loved ones, money, etc.) This caught me off guard....seeking the poorest, smelliest, people and looking for Christ in them and showing the love of Christ to them. This kind of goes against our natural inclination. Yet in order to draw closer to Christ, I think Mother Teresa lived in solidarity with them, owning next to nothing.

By the way, I'm praying for you and Beckie as you begin your training! --Kathy