I checked the news this morning.
This is going to keep me awake until after lunch.
No worries. I'll just write what I'm thinking. Writing hath charms to soothe the savage breast.
Same old news: Covid outbreak at the hospital, winter Olympics, ICE brutality, layoffs, missing children, civilians killed in Nigeria, airstrikes in Gaza, Alberta separatism, power outage in Pimicikamak, teachers dealing with physical violence, price of chocolate going up.
No, not chocolate ! This could spoil my nap. Have to keep writing.
Better write about some good stuff.
We imagine God cares and will be good to us if we follow the rules and don't act stupid. So we should be good to each other because there's a rule and it's smart to treat others the way you want to be treated. Yet even when we do our best, every day brings bad along with the good. Life still hurts, so we wind up stuck in another puzzle.
Why does God allow suffering?
Solving this puzzle is called theodicy. Let me give it a try, thinking of God as reality.
Whether we like it or not, reality includes
chance as well as intention,
grief as well as joy,
exclusiveness as well as inclusiveness,
conflict as well as peace,
limitation as well as freedom,
duty as well as privilege,
brokenness as well as wholeness,
endings as well as beginnings,
aversion as well as love,
and more stuff I left out just to be kind.
We imagine God cares and will be good to us if we follow the rules and don't act stupid. So we should be good to each other because there's a rule and it's smart to treat others the way you want to be treated. Yet even when we do our best, every day brings bad along with the good. Life still hurts, so we wind up stuck in another puzzle.
Why does God allow suffering?
Solving this puzzle is called theodicy. Let me give it a try, thinking of God as reality.
Whether we like it or not, reality includes
chance as well as intention,
grief as well as joy,
exclusiveness as well as inclusiveness,
conflict as well as peace,
limitation as well as freedom,
duty as well as privilege,
brokenness as well as wholeness,
endings as well as beginnings,
aversion as well as love,
and more stuff I left out just to be kind.
So far, so bad. Got to get it off my chest. Write. Write. Write.
If we got only the good stuff, we would not have learned to deal with bad stuff. In a perfect world, we would be stupid, useless, bored, God's spoiled brats always in trouble. If we only got good stuff we would become the bad stuff.
If we got only the good stuff, we would not have learned to deal with bad stuff. In a perfect world, we would be stupid, useless, bored, God's spoiled brats always in trouble. If we only got good stuff we would become the bad stuff.
Reality is what it is, and it keeps us busy, for better or worse. Either way we learn from experience.
That is where Homo becomes sapiens:
where we learn peace
because conflict is expensive and risky,
where we prefer inclusiveness
because we are stronger together,
where we notice what's broken and fix it
because it's great when it works,
where we are drawn in pity to the vulnerable
and try to help,
where love works when other motives fail.
"God is love" is a comforting mantra.
Looking better. Don't stop now.
When we do good here and now,
there may be bad consequences elsewhere later.
This isn't what we had in mind.
To be ethical I confess that this one took me more than a morning.
To be wise, I don't publish the first draft.
There. I've done my best,
although it's my fault we're out of chocolate.
Anyway, time for another nap. Writing works every time.
However, no metaphysics is complete and absolute. Love, as good as it is (egoic, erotic, familial, tribal, national, chocolate, whatever) presents another puzzle.
When we love and care for each other,
we survive and thrive,
we live longer,
the population grows,
we use up resources creating garbage and pollution,
we exceed the regenerative capacity of the Earth,
we end with expensive chocolate, disaster, conflict, suffering and death.
When we do good here and now,
there may be bad consequences elsewhere later.
This isn't what we had in mind.
Not so good. Never mind. Just write.
Love is a feeling, automatic, quick and easy, no effort required. Love without ethics, practical wisdom and effort can be trouble.
That's reality, and also the spicy plot of many troubled stories, some with happy endings. I should write a happy ending.
However, if we don't feel the love, then by wisely treating the less-loved as if they were loved, we may learn from experience to love better. That's reality too. An inspiring story must include at least one or two ethically wise heroes making good stuff happen.
Better ! Almost there.
God is more than love.
Be loving, ethical, and wise, or there's no chocolate.
To be loving, I try to keep these missives brief. To be ethical I confess that this one took me more than a morning.
To be wise, I don't publish the first draft.
There. I've done my best,
although it's my fault we're out of chocolate.
Anyway, time for another nap. Writing works every time.
Next note will be "More Than Human."
****************
The Problem of Evil: Sarah Lancaster, Thoughtful Theology
Bittersweet News For Chocolate Lovers: Climate Central, Youtube
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