On Death and Faith

As I was walking to my office this past week I saw an SUV with the birth and death dates of the owners' son. He was 18. That sucks, I thought. How do you explain that God is loving or just to some one who lost their 18-year-old son? I know the traditional arguments. They're not very good, or at least leave me unsatisfied.

I then thought of my brother, Philip, and I felt a sting of pain as I always do when I think of him. I stopped for a second and took a slow deep breath. My brother committed suicide about a year and a half ago and though this hasn't shaken my belief in God, it has made me more anxious about the after life. The idea that I won't see my brother again seems so overhwhelming to me. I understand disbelief, but I don't accept it. Nevertheless, as I walked toward my office I thought, "How can we love God or even believe in God when God allows children to suffer?"

Then I remembered that it isn't just our children or brothers who suffer. God lost Jesus, just as that couple lost their son, just as I lost my brother. God does care. As some one committed to justice and aware of the vast amount of suffering in the world, sometimes I struggle with coming to terms with why God allows it. I don't believe the ridiculousness that is Calvinism, so I don't think God wills the evil that occurs, but we can't ignore the fact that God allows everything to occur that does occur. But we aren't on our own. In Jesus, God experienced everything (more or less) that we do, including suffering and death, not to mention torture and execution. God also experienced the loss of a Son in a real way.

We don't suffer or experiencepain or loss alone. For me, this helps make it a little easier. And just as with Jesus, we can take solace in the promise that death is not the end, that another life awaits where wrongs are made right and pain is no more.