Dear Readers:  I wrote this today in response to an article on Xanga's "Theologian's Cafe" entitled "Praying The Will Of God".  In it, the author describes the travails of a Christian girl who prays for protection, but is nevertheless raped by criminals and then abused and abandoned by her husband.  If God exists, then why did He not answer her prayers and protect her?  My reply follows.

Dear Dan:

You're forwarding the classic dilemma of moralists; the question of "Why does God let bad things happen to good people?".  Unsurprisingly, it's also the central argument that atheists use to convince the unchurched to their unholy beliefs.  I'm not a pastor or a theologian myself, so I'll just tell you what I think.

First off, God is not evil or the author of evil.  But He IS the Creator of the universe.  And the universe is not here- anymore than we are- by a vague whim of God or by sheer chance in an amorphous Nature.  It is there for a purpose and it is working for a greater, unknowable Purpose.  As God's creatures- and blessed by Him with intelligence and a small understanding of His existance and purpose- we are part of His plan. 

And the Universe is a working whole; constantly changing and adapting to conditions that ultimately affect its entirety.  In that respect, Mankind reflects Creation in a small way.  Like stars, we are born (some stillborn, as stars are) we live a brief, allotted span and fade away, leaving our material substance behind from which new entites arise.  Dust to dust.

The difference is that people are self-aware and are granted, by the Grace of God, free will (within the greater parameters of God's Plan) over our own lives and destinies.  That is the lesson of the story of Adam and Eve.  When we seized that ability to define right and wrong- the "forbidden" knowledge- we assumed that power over our lives... and the consequences of its misuse.  Thus, the loss of earthly paradise.

But, also like the greater Cosmos, every person affects the other toward a greater, God-ordained destiny.  And that path can be a violent and tragic one.  Our individual lives are as atoms in an unimaginably vast ocean of Eternity; each affecting the others before dispersing.  But those atoms endure- as our souls do- in the skies of Heaven when our earthly span is done.

It doesn't matter how long that span is or how difficult it may be.  Everything we or the universe around us does or experiences works to a greater good.  We all affect our fellows by our triumphs and tragedies.  Even that stillborn child touches the lives of others and influences the future course of THEIR lives, the process compounding over time and through succeeding generations.  But we, as self-aware beings, are expected to face tragedy and, with faith in our Creator and his Promise for us at the end of our short, material existance, persevere for that greater legacy.

It's difficult to console the victim of tragedy in such a manner.  We all tend to place ourselves at the center of the universe.  But we're not.  God is.  That is why His Word and our faith in Him is so important.  That's why Jesus was sent to us when and as He was, to fulfill God's Message to us as Mankind emerged from the era of wandering tribes into that of world-spanning civilization.  That is why we must retain that Faith in our darkest hours... for the sake of our fellows as well as for we ourselves. 

No man is an island.  All of us carry a sacred mission and trust from our Creator.  Like good soldiers, we're expected to carry on with our mission, despite personal wounds and casualties among our ranks.

For we ARE as soldiers in a mighty, universe-spanning Crusade.  And God is our Commander in Chief.  Somewhere, on a metaphorical cosmic battle map, is a position marked "Earth/Humanity".  And our standing orders are the same as any soldier's are on the front lines.  "Hold... until relieved."

So HOLD, Christian soldiers.  We are not forgotten.  And our travails will not go unrewarded when we "rotate" back to Paradise, our mission accomplished.

Steven Mark Pilling