You probably do not need me to tell you that the world has been really sad recently. Terrorist attacks, disappointing presidential candidates, economic blunders, unfair viruses, and the sadness that comes with every day living. It can be hard to muster it on a literal level, to see and feel the aches and pains of the world. It can be even harder to make sense of it on a spiritual level, wondering what type of world we live in and what type of God would condone such a world. Personally, I am studying social work and have learned so many sad things. I have had a few existential crises, in which I seriously wondered what the point of an existence was in a world so full of ugly things. I wondered what kind of God would make sense in a world where there is so much evil.
I found the answer in a tiny bathroom book I was reading called Famous Last Words, Fond Farewells, Deathbed Diatribes, and Exclamations Upon Expiration by Ray Robinson. There was a quote from Reverend William Sloane Coffin as he gave the eulogy for his son, Alex, who died at the young age of 24 from an automobile accident.
Coffin said, “Nothing so infuriates me as the incapacity of seemingly intelligent people to get it through their heads that God doesn't go around this world with his fingers on triggers, his fists around knives, his hands on steering wheels... The one thing that should never be said when someone dies is 'It is the will of God.' Never do we know enough to say that. My own consolation lies in knowing that it was not the will of God that Alex died; that when the waves closed over the sinking car, God's heart was the first of all our hearts to break.”
Coffin’s loss was a tragedy, and he is not alone in living through a tragedy. Each of us has had something happen that had broken our hearts. It could be similar to what had happened to the reverend, or it could be something totally different. What Coffin chose to see, and what we can all choose to see, is that there is a Love that looks out for us. We do not live in a mythological type of world, in which the gods inflict suffering on us for their amusement, but instead, we live in a world in which God’s heart is the first to break.
Even Sir Issac Newton can lead us to a similar conclusion. Newton’s Third Law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Therefore, for every interaction, there is a pair of forces that act on the interacting objects. Does this remind you of good and evil? Yin and yang? God and the devil? For every evil, ugly, hateful and sad thing that happens in this world, Newton’s law suggests that there is something completely the opposite out there. It would suggest that a real good is out there.
For some, this could be annoying. With all this goodness and God-ness around, why doesn't God or someone stop all these evil things? I honestly do not know the answer to that one. However, what I do know is that there is a case for this God. A being who fights the evil and loves the good and feels the heartbreak when the evil stomps on the good. Being able to know this makes living in a world where evil sometimes wins a little bit easier. Know that for every heartbreak, there is an opposite something fighting for good.
