A friend of mine wrote to me after the horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. “Where was God?!” he asked.
I suspect lots of people have been asking that hard question as violence around the globe has sky rocketed in recent years.
I made a stab at an answer but I don’t think he was satisfied with it. How could he be? I wasn’t satisfied myself.
Another friend and I sat at lunch just after her husband was sent off to jail for 10 years. She asked pretty much the same question. I made a stab once again: “God is with you. God weeps with you. God will never leave you.” It sounded nice and pious but it didn’t help much on that afternoon of deep grief and anger.
“But why didn’t God DO something!?” she cried.
Ah! There’s the rub!
Anyone who asks that question is in good company. It’s an age old struggle, articulated powerfully throughout the Psalms.
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