How would you respond to someone who says “I have difficulty believing in a loving God when
I see so much needless suffering in the world!”
I still remembering my children's faces when I let the doctor poke them with injections. When they came pleading to play at a certain place or certain times and when I said no to those pleadings, i saw their suffering eyes. I allowed those sufferings keeping their long-term welfare in my mind. The following is from a book "Solace in Suffering" by Thomas Kempis.
We sign ourselves with the cross, hang it on our walls, and object when crosses are removed from public places, yet we fear living under the shadow of the cross. How sad and unsavvy! Though we feel wise, we fail to understand an important point: we can’t escape the cross. Do you know anyone who has no suffering (disappointment, betrayal, physical or psychological illness, loss to death, depression)? With all that, besides the inner sorrow of not understanding ourselves, failing our own expectations, and so on, why try to slip out from under the shadow of the cross? It seems as though we want to shrink from our greatest love, our best blessing—the benevolent gaze of God.
I struggled with understanding this as well. What changed my thinking was reading and learning about St. Maximilian Kolbe. I couldn't understand how a loving God could allow World War II, especially the Holocaust.
The more that I read about St. Max, the more I realized that, in spite of the horror, God wrought good out of the tremendous evil. I mentioned it in one of our previous get togethers that I spent time at Birkenau and Auschwitz. What I felt in my heart and soul defies description. I cannot for a nanosecond diminish any part of the lives of these million-plus people. It will only be when I am on the other side that I will come to know all that had taken place, if I'm allowed. Each person, each one of us, is a unique story.
The good that I do know of is that the role of the deaconate rose up to new heights. Many saints came from this space and time. Who knows how many souls were saved...
To bring it to this current time, I think of the horrors of abortion - the Holocaust of our time, which is every bit as heinous. How can God allow this?
Remember - we each have not only the Gift of Life, but also the Gift of Free Will. These atrocities are willfully chosen and perpetrated on one another. Our Omniscient God will settle all ills.
We also must remember that God is not distant or uncaring. He Seeks from us a very personal and unique one-one relationship. We don't know how many of those people of the Holocaust had a one-one with Him.
We won't necessarily have full understanding of many things until we are with Him on the other side of the veil. In the meantime, we each have our unique crosses that we need to pick up daily. Our crosses can bring us closer to God if we allow it to be.
Yes Karen. Our life experiences change our perspective of the events around us right? It is a hard concept to grasp. The free will that God has give us all. I am convinced, however, that God does not instigate evil. He permits them. Why He permits them is probably one of the difficult answers. Probably worth discussing. I have seen a book on this topic. I will see if I can trace it.
I have been having discussions with a guy I work with lately about philosophical and moral issues. Recently he brought up the topic of whether the decision to end one’s life in the midst of suffering is moral, or should be acceptable in society, stating the person is not causing harm to another and trying to alleviate problems in their own life. We discussed back and forth for a bit on whether others are affected or harmed. He couldn’t see how others - even family members could want someone suffering to linger in that suffering. I told him the story of how my wife’s family watched as her grandfather lay in bed, hardly able to move and in constant discomfort. I told of how he, seeing all of those he loved suffering with him (the true meaning of the word compassion) gave him the desire to live regardless of his pain and his family stayed and served him not out of selfish desire not to let him go, but out of the desire to let him know that he would be loved always and that no matter his state his life had immense value.
He seemed to begin to understand, but continued with the usual “quality of life” and “three month to live terminal illness” arguments. I then asked him to think of whether it is more likely to hear someone say they want to make the most of the time they have left instead of something like, “3 months? Check me out now, to heck with friends and family”. He realized the first was most likely. There was a pause while he contemplated that. I broke the silence with a follow up: “Is there value in suffering”? He was perplexed; he had never thought that would be a question. He answered thoughtfully, drawing a comparison to the sacrifices one makes in building a business, or reaching goals, but couldn’t attach that to human suffering. He asked, “Is there”?
I reintroduced him to the story of my wife’s sufferings with her grandfather’s demise. I gave him a moment to think and I told him that in that case and in all cases from disability to disaster, those who choose to show compassion; to suffer with others realize and understand how to love and live. I could see a light begin to shine in his mind.
In our current “contraceptive culture” we are taught to avoid suffering and look at what a self-centered and entitlement minded society we have become - the exact opposite of a loving society.
“For you will always have the poor with you” Mt. 26:11
Suffering invokes our free will; it challenges us to love, the primary characteristic of God (1 Jn. 4:8). In this sense God allows suffering so that we might be more perfect images of Him; so that we might see the image of God; the image of our brother and sister in the one who suffers and love them.
The traditional wedding vows attach words of suffering to an event of joy. Why? We (the Church) understands that in order for a happy marriage to occur the dedication and commitment to the other must include sacrifice. Hard times will take place, but true happiness and love only comes through embracing the cross and dying to oneself in order to experience the resurrection on the other side.
@deaconrajan - I think at least the partial answer was part of one of our earlier conversations. When we are reasonably content and satisfied, most of us don't think of God. It is the concierge mentality. When we undergo trials, then we run to Him.
Another aspect to this is found in SirSnoopy's reply. I have limited time at the moment and will engage with his comments after Mass. They are beautiful and thought provoking and deserve time for proper engagement of the sides to that crystal of thought.
There is also the personal vs. distant God concept. God is omniscient and knows our thoughts and our little actions. He is well aware of even the tiniest outreach from one to another, whether it's holding the door for someone or giving another prisoner a crumb of bread.
Karen and Steve, Nice thought provoking reflections. Thank you for sharing them. I watched the video couple of times, but already forgot how the author addresses the question. Just reading the question, it implies that God gives suffering to people. I think that is wrong.
However, we know that without God's permission, nothing can happen. That, obviously leads to the conclusion that God is permitting suffering in some cases. From Isaiah 55:8 we know that His ways are not our ways. So, comprehending this subject is almost impossible.
However, we are all living a real life and we have to deal with real questions ourselves. Even those of us who have some amount of understanding of this issue. I mean the issue of why God permits evil. So, who author's evil? The devil. He wants to separate us from God. He is a spiritual person. So, He has more power than we have but much less than what God has.
If we keep ourselves under God's protection (Mass, Eucharist, Confession, Constant prayer, self-evaluation), devil will have difficulty introducing evil in our lives. Obviously this subject is much more complicated than this. This falls under what God told us above..."My ways or not your ways". This is because, if we are not careful, it will imply that all people who are suffering didn't do something right.
what is the bottom line? When suffering comes, pray to God to take them away, but according to His Will.
