Suffering

How can God allow such terrible suffering as we see in Japan or which may hit us in the future?  I believe that, as far as suffering caused by nature is concerned, God created the universe to evolve, and allows this evolution to take its course.  When it’s time for the continental plates to move, they move, and the consequences may be grave for those people who have built their homes there.  In general, we cannot fault people for mistakes made as to where they live, because many times it is not known when nature will strike destruction for humans.  We are part of nature.  At the same time, we live with the special light God has given us in Christ.  Our response to the tragedies brought on by nature is to alleviate the suffering by the self-giving love of Christ in and through us. Our call is to do all we can as God’s instruments for God’s presence of love in the world.

BEAUTY AND PROBLEMS

I wrote my last blog on the morning of the earthquake in Japan, before I knew that it had happened.  I mentioned my impatience with the length of the winter here in Minnesota and the frequent appearance of snow, how beauty and problems come in pairs.  After seeing the images of the ravages of the earthquake and the tsunami, I said to myself, “Rose Mae, how insipid you must appear in your blog – talking about the inconveniences of winter and the beauty of a snowflake when hundreds of thousands of people are suffering terribly and many people have died in Japan!”

Yet I see it again:  the terrible ravages of nature on one hand, and the beauty of the Japanese people on the other hand.  Beauty and suffering, together in one glimpse.  May God grant healing, relief and blessings for our suffering, beautiful sisters and brothers!  I am very sorry I cannot be there.

God Bless Us

The snow is melting!  How can something be so beautiful and yet be so troublesome?  When more and more of that white stuff appeared, I definitely felt impatient and I had to do very little of the shoveling!  A lot of other people did some back-breaking work all winter – and then, of course, there were those who did the snow plowing through the night or during the early morning hours.  It does seem that beauty and problems come in pairs with each other.  May God bless all of us as we face each new day (or night!).

Spoon or Soup

Hello, out there!  Have you ever had the experience of being in a room or other space and, not seeing anything nor hearing anything, were able to sense that someone else was present?   That is how it is with God for me:  can’t see God, can’t hear God, but there is a great Personal Presence everywhere that I know is there.

Recently I listened to a talk by Edward Hays in which he gave the analogy of the use of a spoon used to carry soup to the mouth.  Which would you rather be – the spoon, or the soup?   Edward said that many of us “religious” people are like the spoon, able to feed the nutritious stuff about God, and forgetting that it is the soup itself in which people are interested.  Hey! It’s difficult to be the soup. 

To know God’s active presence and to live accordingly takes the gift of Faith.  I know that I had nothing to do with the fact that I have this gift.  I do know that a personal response of love on my part helps in the relationship.  It helps to sense that great Personal Presence that is everywhere.