Ten Thousand Things

Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people? That must be one of the big questions of all time. Some people will say it’s because He has something better for us after. Others will say it is punishment. I don’t buy either.

The truth is, we will probably never know. We can only speculate. I can’t pretend to be sure of my answer but the only thing I can think of is this: God does not value the material world, our health and material bodies included. It matters not to God if they all come or go. Look how quickly fortunes of men change. Observe how physical  beauty fades.

It seems the only thing that matters is what is eternal—and it is that which has no beginning, was never born, and will never end. The eternal aspect of who we are—Christians call it the soul, other religions call it something else, is what I am pointing to here.

Notice how our conversation with God qualitatively changes when bad things happen. We immediately ask for material deliverance. There is no logic to how God decides about who gets spared and who doesn’t. But one thing sure is, God seems to want to crack us open and tell us that we are bigger than what we think. Concentrate on things that last—eternal stuff. That’s the real stuff you are made of, not your possessions, reputation, not even your body.

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If God made a survey and asked how many bothered to see the sunrise today, I think She would be severely disappointed. I don’t think 1% of people on earth cared about the morning light show yesterday, today and will probably not care tomorrow.

And yet God continues to keep these things going—glorious sunrises and sunsets, blue skies, marvelous life forms in the oceans, a nice soft wind, just to name a few.. Why?

Hmm.. My guess is, God is God and that’s how a God behaves. God is unconditionally God with or without believers or fans or followers.

And God simply can’t help being marvelous.

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