Here’s something for a sunny Saturday: Why do unfortunate unhappy undesirable unwantedstupid bad things happen? The question brings up theodicy, which is one of the more unfortunate words in the language, seeing as it sounds so much like idiocy. How is a word that sounds like idiocy going to help us? But there it is: theodicy. Like it or not, we’re stuck with theodicy and so might as well move on. Theodicy comes from the Greek words for god and justice and was actually the title of a book on the topic written by the German philosopher Gottfried Leibnitz (1646-1016)(Yawn). Here’s what a German philosopher will do for you: He’ll write a paragraph that takes up an entire page in microscopic print and yet consists of a single sentence. And then expect you to make sense of it. Moving on again: Theodicy relates to what philosophers and theologians call the Problem of Evil, which is such a big problem that it gets its own capital letters. In sum, the Problem of Evil is this: If God is good, why is there evil?
Why indeed? It’s a fair question and there’s nothing wrong with it. It might NOT, however, be the best question to dwell upon in a time of crisis. It’s not that we’re not allowed to bring up hard questions. We are. God loves hard questions. Thrives on ‘em. Here’s the thing, though: We’ve been struggling with the Problem of Evil for centuries and haven’t yet come up with an answer that satisfies everyone. It’s unlikely that we’re going to find the answer now, and – to be frank – we have more important things to attend to. Such as: Why are there only 94 episodes of The Great British Baking Show?
There’s a darker aspect to this. The Enemy (and by Enemy I don’t mean Lord Voldemort but the Enemy, aka Satan) wants us to dwell in confusion and despair. The Enemy of Humankind wants us to draw a straight line from the Problem of Evil to one or the other of these (false) conclusions: There is no God; God is not good; God does not love us. And from there the line continues to the truly poisonous concept of nihilism – a five-dollar word meaning nothing matters and life is meaningless. Yikes.
The times are confusing enough on their own. Agreed? So maybe we can put off unhelpful questions and, for now, concentrate on holding fast to what is good. There will be time enough for hard questions later. Meanwhile, be assured that things matter. Creation matters. You matter. The lady next door matters. Your fellow parishioners matter. People in China matter. Dogs and goldfinches matter. Your thoughts matter. Your prayers make a difference. God is love. Yes, there is suffering, but love has triumphed and will triumph. God is love. And You. Are. God’s. Beloved. Child.
