A God of Reason

It is quite normal to hear someone attributing his success to his hard work, his devoted wife, his understanding family etc and if God is lucky, He gets mentioned somewhere along the way.
However, guess who tops the list whenever tragedy strikes? That’s when everyone remembers God, and we hear things like, “Why God? Why me? Why did you let this happen?”
Some people believe that God has a wicked sense of humour. With all this unnecessary pain and suffering which often seems to befall innocent people, especially young children, can one be blamed for harbouring uncharitable thoughts about God?
Yes indeed. What did these children do to deserve such punishment of losing their families, of losing their homes, of having such a bleak future? Why make them suffer Lord?
I mean, which God in His right mind would want to impose such pain, misery and suffering on His beloved people? It’s enough to make a person wonder whether God really exists.
I don’t claim to be a philosopher, neither am I a theologian, but I have always believed that God has a reason for everything. Yes, even the worst of sufferings – even if it is something that we cannot accept or comprehend.
I was rather disturbed to read an article in a magazine recently where after highlighting a few tragedies, the writer wondered out aloud if God really existed. The writer claimed that if God was who we all believed Him to be, then surely He would not have allowed such things to happen.
I don’t know whether the writer is an atheist, a free thinker or belongs to any particular religion but I was saddened to think that an individual could come to such a conclusion just because the world does not happen to be a place of ‘blue skies and everything nice’.
Of course, all of us have this dream of living in a beautiful world that is filled only with laughter, happiness and joy. No one wants to have to endure misery, pain or loss of any kind.
Can there possibly be such a thing as a ‘suffering-free’ world? The answer lies with us. We are the ones who can learn to love one another and treat one another with respect, thus putting an end to war. We are the ones who can put safety before greed to ensure that buildings are safe to live in. We are the ones who can abide by simple rules and common sense and prevent boats and ferries from capsizing due to overloading. We are the ones who can learn to be patient and careful drivers on the road and reduce the number of fatal accidents. We are the ones who can upkeep our moral and religious values and stop all the murders, thefts, rapes and unnecessary abortions. We are the ones who can learn to respect and value life – ours and that of others. The list goes on … but the end result is the same – it is all up to us.
God did not give human beings the brains or the ability for advancement only to see us destroying each other through carelessness, greed, a lack of empathy or a simple egoistic need to exercise our superiority over others. So why blame God? Maybe there is a lesson behind each suffering.
Tragedies sometimes elicit different responses from different people. The atheist will angrily protest: “There is no God indeed! If there were one, this should not have happened!”
The lukewarm believer will lament in despair: “God, my God, why did You allow this to happen!”
Finally, the one who has placed his complete trust in God will pray calmly: “Lord, I accept this. You have Your reasons for allowing this to happen.”
Without God, suffering is unbearable. When someone suffers, he is being given the opportunity to experience the greatness and the merciful love of God. When we look at suffering in this way, then it becomes, not a burden, but a privilege.