Why does God allow suffering? Is it because there is no good God?

This is the one question which is asked in any discussion about God and I have one answer...

I don't know.

This is to do with the question of suffering which cannot be adequately answered by any human being. This is to do with why God, should he be good, chooses to allow some things to happen. Put it this way - neither Einstein nor any of the greatest philosophers or theologians have been able to answer this question, so why do you think some random blog from some obscure writer will? This also means that you don't know either.

I'm not sure it is possible to prepare for physical or mental suffering beyond making sure there is access to pain relief. It is also hard to alleviate suffering with words alone.

God can defend himself on this one. It 'appears' as if God has made a choice not to heal, or not to answer certain prayers for now. This does not mean it will be the case for eternity. It has to be enough to recognise that the pain and suffering is not caused by God, but only allowed by him for now. There is literally little other choice for those suffering. But the question is still valid and legitimate.

Because there is still a choice there made by God, even in the allowing. I believe that he holds the responsibility and accountability for this decision. That means that neither you nor I need to defend his honour on this question.

Neither the Book of Job nor the rest of the Bible answers this question and Job deals with it explicitly. The answer to Job is that he should look to nature and the awesomeness of God's creation and God's greater might above all that. However, Job (and the reader) is not actually given an answer. The only answer Job gets is a future compensation for all the suffering he has experienced. And pain relief of a kind, in the form of God's presence.

The best that could be said is that Christ suffered too and so lived his life under that same tyranny of suffering, and the shadow of death. If you think about it, it would be very hard for a God who never suffered to hold any kind of authority or credibility on this question if he had not lived as a human being.

So you and I can make what feels like a great response to the question of suffering - one which maybe defends God's honour and which seems to answer the question... or one which does not. There should be no value judgement in that. Even if that answer is: 'There is no rhyme or reason to it and it happens because he doesn't exist. There is no good God'. But this is also an answer which is similarly unsatisfying for many.

The next time you and I are suffering (which will happen, even if it is not happening now), all these answers (maybe even this one) will be blown away like chaff - because when you suffer, you don't necessarily want an answer, you want the pain to go away and you want coping strategies if you have to endure (which is usually the case).

The individual who suffers may say some outrageous things and that's okay, because suffering and pressure does not cause a person's true colours to come out. True colours only come out when a person is in relative ease and luxury. And since when was saying something seemingly odd or outrageous indicative of a person's value as a human being? True colours only come out when you are pain-free and in a season of happiness.

So, why, if God is good, does he allow suffering?
I do not know the answer to this question. 

The human condition is such that we are largely compelled to ask it and live without adequate answers.

Get the pain relief in and make it accessible to all.

Think happy thoughts.

Goodbye Queen Elizabeth

 

Many people have been affected by the death of Queen Elizabeth.

The newspapers and websites are filled with material which has long been prepared. There is something comforting about that - in the idea that there has been some kind of plan in place for years. That Operation London Bridge is there to smoothly keep the cogs and wheels of Britain and the Commonwealth running. Goodness knows if there are any other plans in operation. 

The BBC will stop all comedy for some reason – because when you grieve, laughter is not acceptable to some. We live on a strange island.

There were many worse monarchs than Queen Elizabeth. Of course, when a monarch dies, everyone is a royalist to some extent. Freedom of expression has its limits after all, for both republicans and royalists. She surely won the award for being the most popular monarch.

They say that as soon as the Queen died, Charles became King. They say this because they rightly fear that the time between the death of a monarch and the coronation of the new one is a time of social instability. Certain forces, the kind of forces that Queen Elizabeth hinted at during her long reign, will become opportunists. People fear terrorism. Instability. Journalists and writers are called on to keep the peace. We are to write words of comfort and words which keep the wheels and cogs of the system oiled.

People will miss her. She received a lot of prayer and was among the world's most well-known Christians. We got used to her.

Perhaps she could have been more proactive. But in the history of kings and queens she was reasonably benevolent. Episodes of The Crown probably did more for her public image than all the PR of the palace.

We are in new territory. So where do we go from here? What can we say to comfort each other? Millions of words will be written from here on. All kinds of words, and those of us who were raised on Spitting Image, with its caricature of Queen Elizabeth, will wonder at some of them.

And all the plans of Government and the other forces, and the long ago written newspaper material and the plans of church and state... and agitators... will swing into motion like a machine.

You want my advice at this time? Do what you have always done. Survive. But don’t carry on as if nothing has happened. Don’t just keep calm and carry on. It's not business as usual. Even in war, the advice was to keep calm and carry on as much as possible. There was some acknowledgment that there would be some significant ripples felt by people. Sometimes you just can’t carry on as normal. 

So survive. Look around. Read the blogs, watch the changes. Think a little about it all. See the royalists, watch how they act and what they say. See the republicans and listen to their complaints about the constraints on free expression. Watch the news, listen to the journalists. Try not to read too much David Icke.

Take it easy Britain, somebody loves you.

Think happy thoughts.

You are invited...

 Free short story coming on this blog: October 31st...