Is Creator God the Creator of Tragedies?
I wrote on August 2 about "Why Is This the Best of All Possible Worlds?" I said God tests us and uses horrific events to create something good. Well, maybe. I wrote then:
"The question remains: Does everything happen "for the best in this best of all possible worlds?" My healing tells me it does.
"So then what about wars and murders and rapes and cheating and lying and stealing and death and fires and hurricanes and earthquakes and.... The list goes on. I have come to believe that God uses bad stuff to make us better. Just as my alcoholism has made me a better person than I would be if I had never taken a drink, God leads us through such dark times."
I stand by those words. But I came across a different point of view that also makes a lot of sense to me. From Awakening in Time, by Jacquelyn Small (https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jacquelyn-small/awakening-in-time/):
"...positive thinking is not the solution to our dualistic ways.... It insists that 'Everything's wonderful' when it really isn't. When someone's child is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, someone might say 'Oh, isn't this a wonderful blessing? Such an opportunity for growth!' This is total denial of the terror and agony of potential loss. It is simply nonsense. But it can be dangerous, leading to a deadening of the self."
I'm not so sure. I see many cases, where a baby dies or a teenager is murdered or I become alcoholic, in which God enables positive results. It doesn't always happen; someone needs to take steps to ensure a tragedy isn't in vain. We learn. We benefit. We help others in similar circumstances. We create nonprofit groups. We create scholarships in the name of a victim.
I dunno. Are negative events made by God in our lives for "the best in this best of all possible worlds"? Or am I in "total denial of the terror and agony of potential loss"?
What do you believe?
"The question remains: Does everything happen "for the best in this best of all possible worlds?" My healing tells me it does."So then what about wars and murders and rapes and cheating and lying and stealing and death and fires and hurricanes and earthquakes and.... The list goes on. I have come to believe that God uses bad stuff to make us better. Just as my alcoholism has made me a better person than I would be if I had never taken a drink, God leads us through such dark times."
I stand by those words. But I came across a different point of view that also makes a lot of sense to me. From Awakening in Time, by Jacquelyn Small (https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jacquelyn-small/awakening-in-time/):
"...positive thinking is not the solution to our dualistic ways.... It insists that 'Everything's wonderful' when it really isn't. When someone's child is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, someone might say 'Oh, isn't this a wonderful blessing? Such an opportunity for growth!' This is total denial of the terror and agony of potential loss. It is simply nonsense. But it can be dangerous, leading to a deadening of the self."I'm not so sure. I see many cases, where a baby dies or a teenager is murdered or I become alcoholic, in which God enables positive results. It doesn't always happen; someone needs to take steps to ensure a tragedy isn't in vain. We learn. We benefit. We help others in similar circumstances. We create nonprofit groups. We create scholarships in the name of a victim.
I dunno. Are negative events made by God in our lives for "the best in this best of all possible worlds"? Or am I in "total denial of the terror and agony of potential loss"?
What do you believe?
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