Last night I saw 'Titanic' for the first time in ages with Max. I'd forgotten how heart-wrenching it is and needless to say I cried so many tears that I'm sure my tear-reservoir must be completely dry now. However, while being moved by the pain and beauty of the film and the reality of the event it's based on, my mind also decided to do a little philosophising. Or theology...ing, whichever word fits better in the context!
I began to think about all the tragic things that go and have gone on in the world. So much suffering, death and injustice. Over 1000 people alone died when the Titanic sunk. So many lives would have been affected by it, both directly and indirectly. Then just skip ahead a couple of decades and you have the World Wars, whose devastation cannot begin to be described or comprehended. Through these events alone humankind has been subjected to unbearable suffering, great injustice, so much death and grief. It's no wonder we wonder, why?
As a believer, it can be hard to marry the belief that God is loving and good with the idea that He is all powerful and all-knowing, when it seems as though he has allowed so much evil to over-run the people He loves. I don't claim to have many answers at all. I don't think anyone ever will have all the answers, and that's one of the reasons why faith is faith, because it's what you choose to do with all your questions and doubts and fears that matters. You can either trust that God is loving and good, and hang everything on that, or allow the doubts to cloud your faith.
Recently something happened which got me thinking about this, at least a week before watching 'Titanic'. My wonderful boyfriend, the sweetest and most un-violent looking man that you've ever seen, got beaten up by two men for no reason. He was quite badly injured, although not seriously thank God. We were both very shaken by the incident, as I'm sure you can imagine, and his face will take some time to recover. Things we've taken from the experience are the realisation that injustice and pure evil are very much alive and well in our world, but also that these incidents can do a lot to bring you closer together as a couple, and to grow your faith in God; which almost seems like an oxymoron, as it's also during these times that you can have the most doubts and questions.
This is one of the only answers I can give, personally, to the 'Why does God allow suffering?' question. I've always known a special comfort during the hardest times in my life- a knowledge that God is with me and that He loves me. Perhaps instead of asking 'why?' during these times, we could be asking 'where?', and realise that the answer is, right here! We don't suffer alone because God is with us and can give us 'peace that passes all understanding''' (Phillipians 4:7), hope for our future, and faith to believe that good can come out of anything. Personally I don't believe that God causes suffering, but that He can use it to our advantage, or turn it around for good. And I think that like it or not, we often come out stronger at the end, ready to take on new challenges in our lives, or help other people through similar difficulties which they might have to go through.
Also, those who believe in God also believe that in the end ''God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.” (Revelation 21:4) Suffering and even death aren't the end of the story, because one day we'll go to be with God where there'll be no more sorrow, or crying, or violence or injustice.
In 'Titanic', one of the most touching moments for me is when the orchestra starts to play the beautiful hymn 'Nearer my God to Thee'. They decide not to attempt escaping like hundreds of others by fighting for places in the few lifeboats, but to go down with the ship. All throughout their last moments they're playing this song which would have reminded them that they were just a step away from being with God who'd take away all the sorrow and suffering they'd ever experienced in their lives. And I'm sure that like many of us have already experienced in our own lives, they were finding that they felt God so close to them right there and then, as he is to everyone who is ever suffering or broken-hearted (Psalm 34:18).
No comments:
Post a Comment