God And Evil
Surazeus
2015 04 17
David kneels down by hospital bed
where his kind, generous, loving wife Arlene
lies broken after a car accident"
"I am glad you came, Michael, when I called.
Police tell me another man, enraged
she was driving too slow for his desire,
shot her while she drove a car full of children.
"Lord Jesus, God who created this world,
please, heal my wife and bring her back to life.
I know you are all-powerful and good,
and whatever happens in our lives
happens according to your divine plan,
and I must accept your will in all things.
Please, heal my wife and bring her back to life.
Just because I do not understand well
your plans for why we must suffer bad things,
does not mean that you are not at my side,
so guide me well according to your will.
Please, heal my wife and bring her back to life.
You are everywhere, watching over us,
so you were at her side inside her car,
watching over her when you let that man
shoot bullets at her, which caused her to crash.
Please, heal my wife and bring her back to life.
My life is not going the way I planned,
but I know it is going the way you planned.
I know you must have bigger plans for me
than I have for myself, so calm my heart
with confidence that you, Jesus, know best.
Please, heal my wife and bring her back to life.
Prayer is powerful, and you answer all,
but I must remember with patient faith
that you work on your own timing, not mine,
so help me understand why you allowed
my sweet loving wife to get shot and crash.
Please, heal my wife and bring her back to life.
I know there is a reason for closed doors,
unanswered prayers, blocked roads, and altered plans.
If my plans do not work out as I wish,
it is because you have better plans for me.
Please, heal my wife and bring her back to life.
You choose not to answer my prayer, Lord Jesus,
and now my wife is dead from accident.
I know you are taking her soul to heaven,
so now she is with you in paradise,
and I will her join her at my time to go."
David stands and stares down at his sweet wife
whose pretty blue eyes stare at nothing blank.
Michael places hand on shoulder of his brother.
"Jesus did not cause your wife to be killed,
nor did he take her soul to live in heaven.
Your wife died because an evil angry man
fired a gun at her, causing her to crash.
This accident was a random event,
and not part of some divine cosmic plan.
You say this world was created by God.
Remember wise paradox of Epicurus
about disparity between God and evil.
You say God is omnipotent and benevolent.
Yet this world is bloody from evil deeds
when people enslave and kill other people.
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then we cannot say God is omnipotent.
Is God able to prevent evil, but not willing?
Then we must say God is malevolent.
Is God both able and willing to prevent evil?
Then why is evil rampant in our world?
Is God neither able nor willing to prevent evil?
Then God is not omnipotent nor benevolent.
If he is neither, then why call him God?
I must conclude your God does not exist.
While death of your kind loving wife is tragic,
no benevolent god caused her to die."
David weeps over body of his wife.
"I wanted you to be happy and live.
Everything I believed in disappears,
and my worldview based on God falls apart.
My faith in a good and all-powerful god
dies with your death, so now I am reborn
as if I wake from nightmare of belief.
Now I can believe in nothing but love,
for love alone can guide us through this world."
Surazeus
2015 04 17
David kneels down by hospital bed
where his kind, generous, loving wife Arlene
lies broken after a car accident"
"I am glad you came, Michael, when I called.
Police tell me another man, enraged
she was driving too slow for his desire,
shot her while she drove a car full of children.
"Lord Jesus, God who created this world,
please, heal my wife and bring her back to life.
I know you are all-powerful and good,
and whatever happens in our lives
happens according to your divine plan,
and I must accept your will in all things.
Please, heal my wife and bring her back to life.
Just because I do not understand well
your plans for why we must suffer bad things,
does not mean that you are not at my side,
so guide me well according to your will.
Please, heal my wife and bring her back to life.
You are everywhere, watching over us,
so you were at her side inside her car,
watching over her when you let that man
shoot bullets at her, which caused her to crash.
Please, heal my wife and bring her back to life.
My life is not going the way I planned,
but I know it is going the way you planned.
I know you must have bigger plans for me
than I have for myself, so calm my heart
with confidence that you, Jesus, know best.
Please, heal my wife and bring her back to life.
Prayer is powerful, and you answer all,
but I must remember with patient faith
that you work on your own timing, not mine,
so help me understand why you allowed
my sweet loving wife to get shot and crash.
Please, heal my wife and bring her back to life.
I know there is a reason for closed doors,
unanswered prayers, blocked roads, and altered plans.
If my plans do not work out as I wish,
it is because you have better plans for me.
Please, heal my wife and bring her back to life.
You choose not to answer my prayer, Lord Jesus,
and now my wife is dead from accident.
I know you are taking her soul to heaven,
so now she is with you in paradise,
and I will her join her at my time to go."
David stands and stares down at his sweet wife
whose pretty blue eyes stare at nothing blank.
Michael places hand on shoulder of his brother.
"Jesus did not cause your wife to be killed,
nor did he take her soul to live in heaven.
Your wife died because an evil angry man
fired a gun at her, causing her to crash.
This accident was a random event,
and not part of some divine cosmic plan.
You say this world was created by God.
Remember wise paradox of Epicurus
about disparity between God and evil.
You say God is omnipotent and benevolent.
Yet this world is bloody from evil deeds
when people enslave and kill other people.
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then we cannot say God is omnipotent.
Is God able to prevent evil, but not willing?
Then we must say God is malevolent.
Is God both able and willing to prevent evil?
Then why is evil rampant in our world?
Is God neither able nor willing to prevent evil?
Then God is not omnipotent nor benevolent.
If he is neither, then why call him God?
I must conclude your God does not exist.
While death of your kind loving wife is tragic,
no benevolent god caused her to die."
David weeps over body of his wife.
"I wanted you to be happy and live.
Everything I believed in disappears,
and my worldview based on God falls apart.
My faith in a good and all-powerful god
dies with your death, so now I am reborn
as if I wake from nightmare of belief.
Now I can believe in nothing but love,
for love alone can guide us through this world."
No comments:
Post a Comment