When people ask
(as they often do)
why God allows suffering--
particularly at the level we observe
on the evening news--
it makes me think: first, about what God is
and then, about our role.
It came up again last week.
In Gaza, bombings destroy hospitals
and children and other innocents.
And this is among people who claim
to be acting in God's name.
Who is this god, anyway?
I am no theologian.
I'm barely a Presbyterian,
and Catholicism gave up on me long ago.
Who am I to explain God's ways?
But, if I were to try
I'd adopt the trip-partite god:
the trinity of father, son, and holy spirit.
This triumvirate rules in all of us
and heaven is pretty much the place
where it all comes together:
each one of us accepting all three roles.
Heaven is where we love with a father's love,
where we sacrifice for others, as would a son
who sees value in his brothers,
and we sanctify the spirit of knowledge
and understanding in ourselves and those around us.
If God is a compounding of these three roles in each of us..
If God is revealed in love and knowledge and sacrifice,
no wonder we cannot see his fingerprint in our world.
No wonder that these things happen:
the destruction, the hunger, the pain.
Where is OUR love? OUR understanding? OUR sacrifice?
God is not the director of this earthbound play.
We are.
He is not to blame for our failures.
We are.
He is not the sole hope of the world.
We can be.
