Small typo: it’s Corey Comperatore not Compenatore.
I appreciated today’s essay especially the concept of living your life as your own personal story—or perhaps, witnessing the narrative as God spools it out. Mystery upon mystery.
It’s wonderful to me that we can share viewpoints with love and respect and become more enlightened by it. I have a friend who can not understand the incredible evil in the world - why did not God intervene? Maybe he is not there or does not care? And so goes the traumatized soldier. There is no God or this would not have happened. Same conclusion drawn by one who suffers without comprehension. No God. But we must not be tricked. May all your faith grow and understanding be expanded. There is the joy.
I wouldn't try and second guess a God that has seen the beginning and end of our universe and every possible variable of outcome, for every single living human being, in between times.
Maybe you will be happy to know that the end portion of your podcast last week where you talked about this was our opening segment of the family portion of our sunday worship service. :) 8 kids (28-12yrs.) 2 parents, and three friends gathered around a big table. It set the perfect tone for our discussion. You both teach me so much!!
Thank you for the reminder that my knee jerk response to incredibly “inexplicable “ things I like or dislike is at best a very superficial and immature way to view things. My little mind gets very satisfied with easy answers and by default can ignore the many shades of gray.
Amen!! To have faith in Christ often means to live with contradictions, but to live with them in peace knowing that ultimately they get sorted out...sometimes in this life and sometimes in the next. But we are not bound by the expectation of it happening in this life alone! Though often God is exceedingly merciful in this life as well to both those who deserve it and those who don't. And I am grateful I was spared when I was both 7 & 15 so that I could continue to live, and my own (numerous, lol) children could be brought into existence, by God's grace, as well!
I think a different work by CS Lewis may also be helpful, namely, The Problem of Pain. For all the complications you discuss all vanish once we really grasp that the ONLY thing that is evil, really and truly, is sin, understood as the willful choice to disobey the will of God insofar as you understand it at the time.
Murdering is evil. Being murdered is merely unpleasant. God does not will that the murderer murder, but He does will that the murdered pass to his eternal reward at this time. God thereby sanitizes causality.
Small typo: it’s Corey Comperatore not Compenatore.
I appreciated today’s essay especially the concept of living your life as your own personal story—or perhaps, witnessing the narrative as God spools it out. Mystery upon mystery.
Thanks for that. Fixed.
It’s wonderful to me that we can share viewpoints with love and respect and become more enlightened by it. I have a friend who can not understand the incredible evil in the world - why did not God intervene? Maybe he is not there or does not care? And so goes the traumatized soldier. There is no God or this would not have happened. Same conclusion drawn by one who suffers without comprehension. No God. But we must not be tricked. May all your faith grow and understanding be expanded. There is the joy.
I like the open and honest forum too.
"Corey Comperatore has already won the starry crown" protecting his family. He is in Paradise.
I wouldn't try and second guess a God that has seen the beginning and end of our universe and every possible variable of outcome, for every single living human being, in between times.
Maybe you will be happy to know that the end portion of your podcast last week where you talked about this was our opening segment of the family portion of our sunday worship service. :) 8 kids (28-12yrs.) 2 parents, and three friends gathered around a big table. It set the perfect tone for our discussion. You both teach me so much!!
I am touched and delighted to know this. Thank you, Louisa.
Thank you for the reminder that my knee jerk response to incredibly “inexplicable “ things I like or dislike is at best a very superficial and immature way to view things. My little mind gets very satisfied with easy answers and by default can ignore the many shades of gray.
This is so right on! I have read it repeatedly. Thank you!
Amen!! To have faith in Christ often means to live with contradictions, but to live with them in peace knowing that ultimately they get sorted out...sometimes in this life and sometimes in the next. But we are not bound by the expectation of it happening in this life alone! Though often God is exceedingly merciful in this life as well to both those who deserve it and those who don't. And I am grateful I was spared when I was both 7 & 15 so that I could continue to live, and my own (numerous, lol) children could be brought into existence, by God's grace, as well!
I think a different work by CS Lewis may also be helpful, namely, The Problem of Pain. For all the complications you discuss all vanish once we really grasp that the ONLY thing that is evil, really and truly, is sin, understood as the willful choice to disobey the will of God insofar as you understand it at the time.
Murdering is evil. Being murdered is merely unpleasant. God does not will that the murderer murder, but He does will that the murdered pass to his eternal reward at this time. God thereby sanitizes causality.