Skip to main content

Evil's Existence

 “Shall we receive good from God and not evil?” ~ Job 2:10

Job suffered greatly.  His losses were so many that even his closest friends edged away from him.  Yet, Job does not give up.  He strove to glean meaning from his pain.

Life does not always proceed in the way we would like it to go.  It often veers sharply to the right or left.  Our will is not enough to keep it going straight (perhaps we would not want it to be so either…wouldn’t life be boring?).  When life takes us in a direction we would rather not travel we are left with two essential choices:

  1. Deny what is happening.  Fight to regain control over the wheel.  Do everything in our power to resist change.
  2. Accept the change and adjust our life to the new reality.

When bad things happen, as they will, we always have a choice.  We are never “stuck” unless we have made our minds to be so mired.

One Hasidic master said, “The real exile of Israel in Egypt was when they learned to endure it.”  

God is the force that challenges us towards change.  He desires our growth.  He wants us to continually mature and become greater than we were yesterday.  The things that we see as challenges, or evil, are also opportunities.  They contain the greatest kernels of growth.  Seek the learning that inheres in each moment of joy or suffering.  It is our best chance for real satisfaction. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Contact

“Between 1305 and the early 1800’s. the House of Taxis ran a form of pony express service all over Europe….   Its couriers clad in blue and silver uniforms, crisscrossed the continent carrying messages between princes and generals, merchants and money lenders.” –Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave We may think we are the first generation consumed by rapid communication but we are not.   Throughout our history it has been a priority. Of course, now in the 21 st century we must ask: are we better or worse for it?
1 comment
Read more

Speech

  “To say the right thing at the right time, keep still most of the time.”     John W. Roper Those who get in trouble most often are those cannot seem to keep still, remain silent.  Life teaches many lessons.  Among the best lessons of life is one my father taught me at an early age was, “If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.” The contributions we make to life via our mouth are many and varied.  Most of the time, I reckon, they are not contributions at all, but things that diminish the richness of life.    
Post a Comment
Read more

Your Worth

  A father  congratulates his daughter on graduations and was about to present her with a car, his car.   “ But before I give it to you, take it to the used car lot downtown and tell them I want to sell it and see how much they offer you for it.” The daughter went to the used car lot, returned to her father and said, “They offered me $1,000 because the said it looks pretty worn out.” The father said, now “Take it to the pawn shop.” The daughter went to the pawn shop, returned to her father and said, ”The pawn shop offered only $100 because it is an old car.” The father asked his daughter to go to a car club now and show them the car. The daughter then took the car to the club, returned and told her father,” Some people in the club offered $100,000 for it because “it's an iconic car and sought by many collectors.” Now the father said this to his daughter, “The right place values you the right way,” If you are not valued, do not be angry, it means you are in the wrong place...
Post a Comment
Read more