Making Sense Of It All

It is strange how the smallest things inspire me to think or write about something. I was scrolling through Facebook and found this image:

There is plenty of time for a post, or a conversation, about family planning but that's not where I am headed with this one. What struck me most about this photo was Abby's response to the original question. The line that reads "I then concluded that a just God could not possibly have given life to innocent children only to doom them to death by starvation in their infancy" gave me great pause. 

We'll pretend for a second that anyone who is reading this doesn't know anything about me so I'll give some context. I believe in God. I am a practicing Catholic and my Catholicism and faith are essential to who I am and who I will become. Before you start getting nervous about what could come next, I'll add that I consider myself to be on the more liberal end of Catholicism and religion in general. I should also add that I don't think there is anything wrong with being on the more conservative end of thing. To each their own.

So, why did this picture give me pause and get me thinking? 

Human beings are made to be in community with each other. We thrive on relationships and connections. Because of this we create a network of like-minded individuals to talk to and lean on. Additionally, we live in a world where bad things happen and they happen often. So, a large number of people, in order to make sense of things, decided there was a need for a belief and faith in a higher power. Something, or someone, who could be used to explain what was happening in the world. In Christianity we call this person God. Now, this explanation is a relatively scientific view point. There is a flip side. That being the thought (in Christianity at least) that Jesus, the son of God, came to Earth, taught, healed and preformed miracles, and died on the cross for the world's sins. It is because of his death and resurrection that  we are able to walk this Earth. And, because of the great sacrifice of Christ we, as Christians, put our faith in God and believe in his plan for the world. 

Now you might be thinking 'uh, come on Maureen, why the history lesson?'. I lay this out because I think it is important to remember that there are two sides to where people's faith in God/higher power came from. Also, I feel like it is important to understand this part in order to connect it to the next part.

Religious/Faithful/Spiritual people use their religious point of view and their faith in God as a way of making sense of the world. I do it too, not to worry! It is a defense mechanism. Bad things happen so we question 'why would God let this happen?' And I think in some circumstances, that questioning in warranted. What concerns me is the other times when that question is asked and it may not be the right one. Or, it may not be pointed in the right direction. 

This is why Abby's response gave me pause. She mentions a 'just God' and how he/she gives life to innocent children only to subject them to heartache and death. 

This somehow does not sit well with me. I believe in God. I believe he/she has some crazy plan for me and I'm rather excited to see where it goes. But, I also believe I have the power to make my own path, to make my own choices. So, I get confused when we race to blame God for the ills of the world. Aside from whether you believe in a higher power or not, the blame for the ills of the world should not be placed solely on God. We are the people living here. We are the ones making decisions day by day, minute by minute on how to treat people, or how to leave this world better than we found it. And sometimes we manage to make good choices and stand up for those on the margins or just stand up for our own family. But sometimes, we act selfishly. Sometimes we are greedy. Sometimes we only care about us. 

And then difficult things happen. We wonder why God would let millionaires and billionaires keep living their lives when the rest of us are struggling. We wonder why God would let hundreds die from mass shootings without thinking about the deeper root causes. We wonder why God would let children be born into a world to parents who can't afford to feed them but we don't dare stop to consider the millions of adults who are starving on a daily basis.

I don't say all of this to make the argument that religion and faith and questioning God is not something good. I think all of those things have vital roles to play. I say this because sometimes it is easier to blame God. It is easier to shift blame from humanity to God, because God is the 'source of life' and he/she is the one with the plan. But, when do we, as human beings, start taking responsibility? When do we decide we need to stop hiding behind our God and realize we too play a part in the ins and outs of the world? 

There's a quote from Shane Claiborne's book The Irresistible Revolution that is fitting for the end of this:

"Two guys are talking to each other and the one says he has a question for God. He wants to ask God why he allowed all this poverty and war and suffering to exist in the world. And his friend says, 'well, why don't you ask?' The fellow shakes his head and says he is scared. When his friend asks why, he mutters, 'I'm scared God will ask me the same question."