Several years ago, I read the book 'When Bad Things Happen to Good People' and I came away with the impression that our perceptions of 'bad' and 'good' are heavily conditioned by our own self-interest. (this wasn't the author's intended message btw)
What makes an event in my life bad anyway? If it causes me loss, discomfort, sadness, or inconvenience, then it must therefore be bad. So what? I say that events are morally neutral and are only good or bad depending on whose perspective you listen to. What determines whether a person is good? I'm guessing that very few people would honestly say, "I am a bad person...I deserve whatever bad stuff happens to me." Why should there be a 'bad stuff' exemption for people who are innocent (or who think they are)? That's just wishful thinking. I say that perceived innocence is irrelevant. We are porcelain vases in a china shop full of toddlers. Having a higher price tag has no bearing on our potential for breakage. If there is anything to learn from the story of Jesus, it's that bad stuff happens even to the best person. The question then is not 'why did this happen?' but is 'what will I do now?' -----Original Message----- From: Mary Jo Sminkey [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2008 12:46 PM To: CF-Community Subject: Re: Depression(was Re: Need suggestions ...) >Maybe its the age I'm at but people keep dying and kids keep getting >sick, >and children being abused, neglected and killed, that if there was some sort >of force that gave a shit about us, these things wouldn't happen. .... But suffice to say that while it's hard for us to completely know God's plan, there are two things I do know. 1. Much evil happens in the world because God gave us free will. He does not control our lives to the extent that it is taken away from us. That unfortunately does mean that bad people are out there doing bad things. And 2. When bad things happen to us, it allows us to then minister to others in a way that we might not otherwise be able to. Even people that are not Christian do this naturally, they share their own experiences when they see someone else that is hurting and struggling, to help them through it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;203748912;27390454;j Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:266078 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
