In the readings today, we find three good men who became victims of
unfortunate events. In the 1st reading, Job, a good man, says: "My life
is like the wind, I shall never see happiness again." This was because after so
much honest and hard work, Job’s life becomes fruitful – children, wealth,
flocks, servants… until misfortune befalls him, and takes everything away, except his nagging wife. In the 2nd
reading we find Paul, a good man who only wanted to reach out to people and
tell them of the good news. In the process he was flogged, imprisoned,
shipwrecked and later killed. In the Gospel, there is Jesus Christ, a good man,
who healed the sick, cast out demons, and preached kindness. And he is maligned,
persecuted, despised. So, why do bad
things happen to these good people?
Through the ages people have tried to give an answer to this question :
The Mathematician Augustus DeMorgan, 1866 came up with the Murphy’s Law:
Anything
that can go wrong will go wrong.
Psychologist Scott Peck , 1978, wrote in his book: Life is difficult.
Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump (1994): Life is like a box of chocolates… you never
know what you’re going to get.
One day in Boston, Massachusetts, there was this good and upright rabbi
- Harold Kushner who was told by the doctors that his 3 year old son Aaron
would never grow taller than 3 feet since he suffers the symptoms of progeria
“rapid aging.” This news devastated him. He wondered why the God to whom he had
been so loyal to could do this to him. And so Harold Kushner contemplated on
this mystery of life and came up with his book: “When Bad Things happen to good people.”
The fact of life is: we all suffer blows in life that seem unfair. One
day when I was a third grader, my teacher accused me of talking to my seatmate
during a test. Then she made me sit at the trash can for the whole period. That afternoon, I went home crying to my mother:
“Mama, my teacher punished me for something
I did not do. It’s not fair.” She turned to me and said, “Gigi, that is life. It is never fair.”
At the time I thought she was teasing me, but now I realize that she had given
me a very important lesson in life.
It seems to be the case with nature. It does not discriminate between
good and bad, the faithful and the faithless, the criminals and the saints.
Rain pours on the good and bad alike right? But, why does a poor village have
to get wiped out in a landslide because the rich plundered their forest ? Why
does a mother lose her baby after all the care she had given? Why do innocent
people die when they collide with a drunk driver?
Why do the good have to
suffer?
Many times we blame God, ourselves, everything, when we cannot find an
answer and explanation to this question. Somehow, maybe, just maybe, the
question isn’t “why do bad things happen to good people?” Probably, the better question
to ask is: “What do we do when bad
things happen to good people (or us)?”
There is this 1913 novel, Pollyanna
(by Eleanor Porter)- a little girl
who lived with her poor father. One Christmas Pollyanna was hoping for a doll
in the missionary barrel, but she found only a pair of crutches inside. To lift
her spirits, her father invented the Glad
game: The game consists of finding something to be glad about in every
situation. In this case, Pollyanna and her father were glad about the
crutches because they didn't need to use them!
When her father died she had to live with her rich but stern and cold
spinster Aunt Polly. When Aunt Polly
puts her in a stuffy attic room without carpets or pictures, she rejoiced at
the beautiful view from the high window; when the aunt tries to
punish her for being late to a dinner of bread and milk in the
kitchen with the servant Nancy. Pollyanna thanks her joyfully because she likes bread and milk and she likes Nancy.
Soon Pollyanna taught the game to her neighbors who were inspired by
her sunny disposition to life. Until one unfortunate day Pollyanna fell from
the top story of the house and lost the use of her legs. She fell into
depression. But all the neighbors visited her and told her how she had inspired
them to find something to be happy about in every situation. And so, Polyanna did
not give up hope that someday, she would be able to walk again. I will not tell you the end of the story,
you’ll have to read it yourself.
Let us remember that God allows things to happen for His reasons, whether or not we understand them. We must remember that God is good, just, loving, and merciful. Oftentimes things happen to us that we simply cannot understand. However, instead of doubting God's goodness, maybe it would be better to trust Him. As Proverbs would put it: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Prov 3:5-6)
Let us remember that God allows things to happen for His reasons, whether or not we understand them. We must remember that God is good, just, loving, and merciful. Oftentimes things happen to us that we simply cannot understand. However, instead of doubting God's goodness, maybe it would be better to trust Him. As Proverbs would put it: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Prov 3:5-6)
Goldstein,
E. (2011). “Bad Things Happen to Good People, But Is It Our Fault?” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elisha-goldstein-phd/when-bad-things-happen-to_b_829875.html
Levine,
Murray. “Pollyanna and the Glad Game: A Potential Contribution to Positive
Psychology.” Journal of Positive Psychology 2, no. 4 (2007): 219-227.
Potter,
E. H. (1913). “Pollyanna.” Bibliomania.