Saturday 16 January 2010

haiti: God in the dark?

We say ‘God is in control’, but how do you square that with a disaster like the Haiti earthquake? A tide of human lives, not only taken quickly and mercifully, but ebbing away, water from a burst skin seeping wasted into parched ground, because there is not enough help to stem the flow…fifty thousand, a hundred thousand… where is God in this cruel, desolate place on the margins? Perhaps his Spirit is at work in the surrounding surge of human compassion that propels help on its way; but that is so slow and limited, and cannot halt the relentless clocking of lives being snuffed out. What of the victim buried but still conscious beneath the rubble, alone and in pain?
A passage from ‘the shack’ hints at the possibility of light in such darkness. Comforting the father of a young girl kidnapped then murdered, the Spirit tells him that while she was alone in the back of that dark van not knowing where she was being taken, and even in the depth of her ordeal, she found strength and comfort: ‘she and I know each other well’. Could not the Spirit similarly minister to the forsaken earthquake victim buried in the rubble - where there is, and maybe even where there is not, the flicker of an inner cry for help?

4 comments:

r. said...

the indeconstructabilty of hope is what caputo called the foundation of the worlds religions - wherever there is not hope there is always hope.

"better to light a candle in hope than to curse the darkness" or so claiemd the poster for the interfaith chapliancy at university

why has everything got so soft and cuddly - I kinda like the inquisition and the crusaders...

r. said...

just been on stephen laws page - he has a video for pat robinson which certainly offers a high level explanation for the events ! A long time ago the haitians sold their soul to the devil.

Bruce said...

cheers rob, the PR video also excited comment on the Ruth Gledhill Times religion blog linked on mine

Billy said...

Alternatively, we inhabit a geologically active planet that is indefferent to us - hence horrible stuff happens.

If you accept god is in control etc, surely, the simplest answer is that he caused it!