Are we all puppets?
I was reading about Job. And what struck me was the reason for Job's suffering - a mere one-upmanship kind of argument between God and the devil.
And poor Job who was not at fault at all bore the brunt. Ok, he got twice as much back once God's position was proved right. But is that enough to take away the pain of loss? Maybe it helps ease the pain but it doesn't take away the loss itself.
The suffering of several generations of Israelites in Egypt is another example that comes to mind. In the grand scheme of things, it was probably a necessity. We don't know why it was a necessity. Why did so many thousands have to suffer slavery and perish in an unknown land without ever knowing any peace? Why did so many children have to perish without seeing their first birthdays? The obvious answer is, to fulfill their role in the grand plan, which neither we know nor they knew much about. Again for God, those 400 years may have just been a blip on the screen. But for those who suffered the whip and starvation, it was their entire lifetime. Was it part of another contest between God and the devil?
When we see the suffering around us today, many of us question God's lack of interference in our affairs. Most of us who want to accept the goodness of God write it off as the world paying for its many sins. And yes that seems right. We rejected God. We rejected multiple overtures from God. We rejected him in his human form. We rejected all his prophets. Now, what more can one do if all one's efforts are rejected? Obviously, sit on the sidelines and watch. Wait for the cup to flow over. And then intervene once we have given up or when it seems like we are headed to definite doom.
Again we seem to be the puppets in an eternal battle between God and the devil, between good and evil. But at this moment, for each of us, this lifetime is eternity. This lifetime that we are now living is all that we care about. Who cares about a promised great life in some unknown exotic future in some otherworldly place called heaven, which we have only read about but have no way of experiencing or seeing right now. So why do we have to suffer for the sins of the first man and woman? What is this inherited sin? Is sin then more than just wrong deeds? Is it like a virus that is transferred from generation to generation? How is it transferred? Since blood seems to be so important in the bible, is that the source?
At the end of the day, while we can choose to do good and evil, in the grand scheme of things we don't seem to have much of a say. All we can do is accept that we are creations, nothing more. And we need to accept the will of the creator and do what we have to do. And hopefully, we will all elect to accept the good. Else, our rebellion against our lack of control over our own lives can only lead to eternal suffering.
And poor Job who was not at fault at all bore the brunt. Ok, he got twice as much back once God's position was proved right. But is that enough to take away the pain of loss? Maybe it helps ease the pain but it doesn't take away the loss itself.
The suffering of several generations of Israelites in Egypt is another example that comes to mind. In the grand scheme of things, it was probably a necessity. We don't know why it was a necessity. Why did so many thousands have to suffer slavery and perish in an unknown land without ever knowing any peace? Why did so many children have to perish without seeing their first birthdays? The obvious answer is, to fulfill their role in the grand plan, which neither we know nor they knew much about. Again for God, those 400 years may have just been a blip on the screen. But for those who suffered the whip and starvation, it was their entire lifetime. Was it part of another contest between God and the devil?
When we see the suffering around us today, many of us question God's lack of interference in our affairs. Most of us who want to accept the goodness of God write it off as the world paying for its many sins. And yes that seems right. We rejected God. We rejected multiple overtures from God. We rejected him in his human form. We rejected all his prophets. Now, what more can one do if all one's efforts are rejected? Obviously, sit on the sidelines and watch. Wait for the cup to flow over. And then intervene once we have given up or when it seems like we are headed to definite doom.
Again we seem to be the puppets in an eternal battle between God and the devil, between good and evil. But at this moment, for each of us, this lifetime is eternity. This lifetime that we are now living is all that we care about. Who cares about a promised great life in some unknown exotic future in some otherworldly place called heaven, which we have only read about but have no way of experiencing or seeing right now. So why do we have to suffer for the sins of the first man and woman? What is this inherited sin? Is sin then more than just wrong deeds? Is it like a virus that is transferred from generation to generation? How is it transferred? Since blood seems to be so important in the bible, is that the source?
At the end of the day, while we can choose to do good and evil, in the grand scheme of things we don't seem to have much of a say. All we can do is accept that we are creations, nothing more. And we need to accept the will of the creator and do what we have to do. And hopefully, we will all elect to accept the good. Else, our rebellion against our lack of control over our own lives can only lead to eternal suffering.
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