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These Are The Times (And Tough Questions) That Try Men's Souls
©2005 Sharon Hughes
A little over three years ago Americans faced one of the biggest violations
in our history - the terrorist attack of 9/11. Because of it we have a
heightened empathy for the victims of the 12/26 earthquake- generated-tsunami in
southern Asia. The world has committed millions of dollars of aid, with
Americans pledging the greatest amount of $350 million, so far. And that's just
from the government. Personal contributions are high as well, with one company
giving $3 million alone. The death toll and destruction are enormous, and the
right thing, the good thing, the needed, urgent thing is to give whatever we can
to help. What of the deeper needs of the soul? Organizations, churches, and
missionaries are also on the scene to help the survivors process through this
violation of nature, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. This is the harder
task. It is not the time for clichés and pat answers, any more than it was on
9/11 and following. It is the time for comfort and wisdom. Events such as 9/11 and the current tsunami devastation are sobering, and
raise the inevitable question, "why?" After the shock it is
natural to ask "why?" in an effort to try to make sense of it all.
Another common response is also to try to fix blame, like the woman in front of
me at the Post Office yesterday who said, "There's no one to blame...but
God." This conclusion usually comes from the anger we feel in these kinds
of situations. But is it accurate? For many this anger turns to rejection...of
God. Let me propose that this rejection comes from not knowing God's nature. In Mel Gibson's controversial movie, "The Passion of the Christ,"
people either viewed God as cruel or compassionate. Those who saw God as cruel
blamed Him for what man did. Those who saw Him as compassionate saw the extent
He would suffer at the hand of man. Many of you are familiar with C.S. Lewis,
who addressed this issue from many facets in his books. Tothesource has a
very helpful article on this subject which I would like to recommend. See:
"A Grief Observed" Let me also say, that in times such as these, many people turn towards God,
and those who know Him cry out to Him. Who was it that said, "There are no
atheists in foxholes"? I know this is not a politically correct article, but
then who says that politics are suppose to dictate what is correct anyway?
Politics don't answer the deeper questions.
Sharon Hughes - Sharon is the President of The Center for Changing Worldviews, and hosts Changing Worldviews TALK Radio which is heard on KDIA AM1640 San Francisco; KGDP AM660 Santa Maria, CA and WITA AM1490 Knoxville, TN, as well as online daily at Oneplace.com. Her column appears on several online news sites including CaliforniaRepublic.org, ChronWatch.com, Ediblog.com, chNews.com, NewsWithviews.com, RenewAmerica.us and others. For further information visit her: Website
www.changingworldviews.com Blogsite http://changingworldviews.blogspot.com
Contact: sharon@changingworldviews.com