There is a story in Luke's gospel (ch. 13) where Jesus' disciples ask him if the collapse of a tower killing eighteen meant the victims were worse people than others in the city of Jerusalem. It is an application of the saying "what goes around comes around," that in the end people get what they deserve and these people must have done something to deserve their sudden and tragic death. Jesus responds that they were no more sinful than anyone else, and that we all ought to be prepared to meet our Maker.
This story came to mind when I saw the photos of the collapsed cathedral tower in Christchurch, New Zealand, a city with a very Christian name. We now know that a number of people were on the tower observation deck when it collapsed and all perished. Why did these people die, and while in a church, no less? Let's hope that no one suggests that it was because of their wickedness, although that's exactly what some crazy Christians declared about the people of Haiti in the wake of the earthquake that killed nearly 300,000 people.
We all search for answers when disasters occur, or folk die in accidents, or when a family member develops a life-threatening disease. Why has this happened, we wonder? Some ask whether God caused the problem. or angrily wonder why God didn't prevent the situation. Honestly there are no simple answers. Good people die young. Nasties live long and prosper.
I have seen how individuals and communities have drawn on the deep well of their faith to sustain them through tough and death-dealing times. I heard the bishop of the cathedral speak with quiet confidence about how they will carry on. She is originally from Canada and is a breast cancer survivor, so understands there are no easy answers.
What are your thoughts about all this? Has your faith helped you through difficult days?
6 comments:
Faith has helped me through many a tight time, but the question of how terrible things happen to good people is the toughest question I deal with, when it comes to church and God.
I guess believing in the face of this reality is what makes faith faith, right?
Devastating. The very first Rotary student our family hosted lives in Christchurch. He is a pastor there now. We have been in contact with him, and he and his family are safe, but he did ask for our prayers. I believe it is his faith and the faith of those of us from a distance that will carry them through.
It is that faith that carries us all through difficult times, even though it does not appear to be easy at the time. Sometimes it is only in looking back at a difficult situation we got through, that we can see that Christ was present.
I'm reading the book "Radical Hospitality" [by Father Daniel Homan, Lonnie Collins Pratt] There is a line that I think says it all. It comes right after Annie Dillard's description of an eclipse she witnessed, which was so brilliant I can't stop re-reading it.
Anyway,a few lines after the Dillard quote, is the line "Life slams us into God, and if we have any sense knocked into us, we realize that behind all the ordinary stuff there is something more dazzling and real than we can understand. Life is holy ground. Holy ground is risky." I think that's exactly what a natural catastrophe does, it slams us into God, and reminds us of the risk of life.
I don't think an earthquake is anymore a weapon against evil, than was this terrifying eclipse. With the eclipse there was no loss of life, just a scary but awe inspiring experience of the shocking smallness of the human being compared with the awesomeness of the forces of Mother Nature.
Bishop Victoria Matthews, was also quoted at the scene of Christchurch explaining why she now always carries a flashlight. She said that 'people shouldn't feel that they are in control of Mother Nature, they should have a little respect."I don’t know why that stuck out so much for me, but I think we are so used to controlling everything that sometimes it takes an earthquake to remind us we aren’t in control. I think we can't really bare this reminder, and look for ways to feel in control of that as well. In response to your question, I think that in order to believe that God crushes those you find intolerable, you must in some ways believe your own thoughts and prejudices have the power to sweep into an earthquake or a hurricane. So, when I hear people exclaiming any version of , “See I told you so, God doesn’t like those people either” it seems like a belief that Mother Nature/God is somehow your puppet. Not a very comforting thought. Nor one that respects God.
Watch out fir those "Crazy Christians". They come up with these quick off the cuff explainations for events like what happened in Hati, and New Orleans. I'm shure there were some of them floating down the street wondering "What did I do?"
Life is life. It happens. It's our responsibility to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
I've accepted Christ as my saviour, and my life insurance is paid up to date. I'm good;)
I think the people of our faith have pulled us through some very difficult times. The words "may you see the face of God in every one you meet and may everyone you meet see the face of God in you" resonates with me. I don't believe that these forces of nature are of God's making...they are simply the forces of nature. It's what we do after that is truly God at work.
Pupil, I loved your line..life is a risk....I hadn't thought it that concisely before. Humankind's freewill seems to playout in awful and wonderful ways. Thank Goodness we aren't alone.
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