It's amazing what happens when I start thinking! Blog posts just come flooding to my mind! This idea, however, came to me this morning in my Theology and film class. We just finished watching the film The Color Purple. I, being the cry baby that I am, was holding back tears the entire movie. So at the end of the film I may have let a few tears slip, because it is just so perfect and wonderful and all of those other synonyms for the word amazing.
For those of you who don't know, The Color Purple a movie that tells the story of a bond between two African American sisters who are torn apart from each other during their teenage years. They both suffer a harsh life, filled with sexual, physical, and mental abuse from the men in their lives. I won't give anything away, in case you haven't seen the movie, but there's a short gist.
So following the end of the movie, our teacher had a reflection set up for us. One of our questions was, "Do you think God is responsible for the harm caused in these women's lives?"
Wow.
Answering this question was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. It's amazing how quick I am to blame God for the things that go wrong in my life, but when face to face with the question, my immediate answer was of course, "No." My answer was no, but like I said, when it's my life I never hesitate to place the blame in God's hands and get angry with him.
It's this question that got the rusty gears in my brain turning again. I began to think how ironic it is that we as humans ask SO much of God, and he provides bountifully, yet we are so quick to blame him for every one of our misfortunes. I'm not trying to say that it's not okay to get angry with God, everyone does every once in a while. The problem is developed when we think that God single-handedly places horrible struggles in our lives.
I'm not trying to answer some major philosophical question here, but I have a difficult time believing that God sits up there and says, "Hmm... today I think I'm gonna send some cancer down to Helen, ooooh and I think Carla is going to have a bad day today, and oh then there's Jeremy, I think it's time for him to get injured at work." That just can't be how it happens.
Have you ever stopped to realize that those who cause us the most pain in our lives are often the ones who have experienced great pain and grief in their own life? For those of you who have seen the movie, Albert is a perfect example of someone who repays his own grief onto others. Albert was raised being taught to treat women with disrespect, but he spent his whole life chasing the woman of his dreams, Shug Avery. Since Albert could not have Shug, he settled for Celie. This settling left Celie to live up to Shug's glory that was established in Albert's mind. Albert suffered great pain for not being the man who Shug wanted, and Celie suffered great pain for not being the woman that Albert wanted. You see, it's a cycle of disappointment, a feeling of not living up to someone else's expectations, and the cycle of hatred that follows.
So, answering the question. As often as I blame God for the wrong turns in my life, I still had to answer the question with a stern, "No." You see, I live in a house, I have a loving family, I attend an excellent school, and I have three meals a day with snacks in between. I have all of these things, yet I am still so quick to blame.
Thinking of all these things led me to remember my friends across the globe in Romania. Those families who were homeless, had no food, no healthcare, no diapers for their children, no anything. These people have nothing, and yet they have everything. They do not blame God for their lack of wealth, they praise him for their small treasures. I saw the faces of children rejoice over something as simple as a coloring book, and the face of someone who cared about them. They rejoice when there is dinner on the table, and I complain when I've had two meals already and I don't like what my grandfather has prepared for dinner. I really do hope that I can one day have faith such as theirs, and rejoice over every high and low in my life.
What I'm getting at here, is that my reason for answering, "No," to the question, is that I do not believe that God is responsible for misfortune. I believe that people do horrible things because they have once had unthinkable things done to them as well. These people dong horrible things, are so distant from Christ. It's this distance from God that causes unthinkable things to be done. So I'm going to start making a conscious effort to remember that when someone hurts me, that they may be suffering great pain and grief behind the wall they assemble to masque their own problems as well. I'm going to try really try to praise God in the storms of my own life, and remember that there are those who have so much less than me and have so much genuine faith. So next time I return to Romania, I can return with a cleansed heart, ready to share all of my new found love! I hope and pray that I can encourage all of you to take on the same challenge in your life!
"We love because he first loved us."
John 4:19
Peace and Blessings,
Katie :)
