Writing about the presence of so much pain and suffering in
the world, a friend asked in his blog post, “… what the hell do we do with
REALITY? What do we do with these Job-like questions and this
Job-like anguish we feel in the midst of this REALITY? Like Rilke, I live these
questions awaiting the answers that do not readily come.”
The anguish and the questions are timeless, weighing on the human
mind since its emergence into its present level of consciousness. From the very
beginning man has turned to God in an attempt to find purpose and meaning in
the world and in their lives. Beliefs in an “Almighty” have evolved along with
the rest of civilization, but the basic tenets of a transcendent deity has
persisted, and today millions of men and women believe in the presence of a loving
God in their attempt to understand why there is so much pain and suffering in
the world.
Nature has no purpose; it is morally neutral. Ours is a world of beautiful vistas and
exquisite sunsets, as well as swamps, deadly diseases, and natural
catastrophes. Life has no
divine purpose other than the instinct for survival. All life fulfills a role determined by evolution. Human beings, sitting at the pinnacle
of biological evolution, are complex creatures, capable of love and hate, generosity
and greed, and good and evil.
History reveals the incredible range of human behavior.
But, humans have the distinct capacity to question, to think
abstractly, and to imagine. We can
imagine a world without pain, a world filled with love and not evil, and a
world where justice prevails. We are cursed with the ability to imagine a
better world, one that does not exist. We recognize our frailties and helplessness in the face of this
world and turn to a loving God for comfort and answers. We look to Him for the justice that we
so desperately need. But for many,
this very belief raises questions and anguish – how to reconcile the pain and
suffering in a world created by a loving deity.
We cannot change the ways of the world, and I don’t know how
much we can change human behavior. I think the best we can do is to live our
lives encouraging, loving, and teaching one another to the extent we can, using
whatever skills and/or resources we have.
History tells us we have made some progress, but there is so much
further to go.
I have faith in man’s potential for goodness. I have faith in people like my friend
who has prompted this narrative with his own questions and anguish. The anguish never goes away, but the
questions become how do we make the world better, rather than why is it the way
it is.
