God is God. From my experience, somethings happen and we have no explanation to what the hell is happening. In terms of people suffering and God watching there are countless reasons. It could be:

- God testing the person's faith
- God punishing the sins of the unjust (remember that God said he punishes the sins of the wicked up until the 3rd and 4th generations.
- God wanting the person to go through a certain experience so as to help others
- God's Will!

There are many other reasons which I do not know myself. But what can we do. Prayer & dedication to God.

Life goes on no matter what. Just like Marvin Gaye sang "Whats happening?"

I know some people may ask why are we serving this God - but I want to ask anyone too. Have you found another 'god' greater than God? The God that brought the Isrealites out Egypt! The God that sent His only Son to die on the cross that we might be saved!

Maybe me and your friend (sickled cell) but not your cousin (deaf and dumb) are in the same boat? I think you are relatively disease free, that is why you think its ok to have these genetic disease and won't consider termination.The health, emotional and other strain put on the carer, other family member and society by people born with terminal genetic disease is huge.lol

Why Does God Allow Tragedies?

By Stephen Lampe


We seem to be living in a time of tragedies, natural and man-made. And as the first anniversary of the dastardly terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, approaches, many people are again asking why God permits tragedies to befall human beings. But it is not only major catastrophes that elicit the question. More generally, people wonder why God, who is described as Love and characterized as omnipotent, allows human suffering. Others put the question differently; they ask: why does God allow evil? Sometimes the question takes a very personal form when disaster hits. Victims ask: why me?

This question, which has been asked for ages, gives rise to several other important issues. One of these is whether our understanding of the Love and Justice of God is correct. Does the correct concept of Divine Love differ from our human conception? If so, in what way? The Omnipotence of God is another issue. The contemporary human understanding of the Omnipotence of God is captured by the popular saying that "to God nothing is impossible"; by which people mean that God can do and undo anything. In the light of tragedies, natural disasters, and widespread human suffering, what are we to make of this conception of the Omnipotence of God? Is it possible that our idea of God’s Omnipotence is wrong? Surely, if God were omnipotent in the sense most people think, He would banish suffering and tragedies. I do not intend to address these very important questions today. But I must hasten to state that, I am convinced that the popular contemporary conceptions of Divine Love and of the Omnipotence of God are wrong.

I recall that during the "National Day of Prayer and Remembrance" on Friday, September 14, 2001, Rev. Billy Graham raised and tried to answer the question "why does God allow evil?" But how do we understand something like this? "Why does God allow evil like this to take place?", he asked. He went on to say: "I have been asked on hundreds of times in my life why God allows tragedy and suffering. I have to confess that I really do not know the answer totally, even to my own satisfaction. I have to accept, by faith, that God is sovereign, and He is a God of love and mercy and compassion in the midst of suffering. The Bible says God is not the author of evil. It speaks of evil as a mystery."

There is in fact a clear, simple, and intelligible answer to this all-important question. First, it should be noted that those who ask the question assume that the omnipotence of God is of such a nature that He can intervene at will in any matter, anywhere, and at any time. Such a conception of omnipotence implies the possibility of arbitrary action. But God does not act arbitrarily; His Perfection precludes all arbitrariness. The truth is that God does not at all intervene in the great and small affairs of men, be it wars, accidents, terrorism, floods, fires, famines, etc. From the very beginning, God wove into Creation His perfect Laws, which acting somewhat like a computer program, carry out His Will immutably and irresistibly. God’s Work is without flaws and, therefore, requires no correction or intervention. His Love and Justice are built into His unchanging and unchangeable Laws. It is through these Laws that Creation and all creatures came into being and it is through them that everything is maintained.

The Will of God and the Laws which manifest this Will in Creation are perfect. Because they are perfect, they cannot be improved upon and they cannot be subjected to even the minutest modification. All that God does is to permit His Laws and their applications to be brought to the attention of human beings dwelling on earth and in other parts of material Creation. This is the role that various earthly prophets and spiritual teachers have played over the ages. By adjusting to these Laws voluntarily, human beings receive the immeasurable blessings that are inherent in God’s Creation. When we deviate from His Laws, we invite suffering, tragedies, etc. on ourselves. In the light of this, instead of asking why God allows tragedies, the question really should be: why do we human beings allow tragedies? Why do we not learn the true Will of God and live accordingly so that only blessings will be our lot? God wills only joy and peace; He has no hands in our suffering and calamities!

I should add that human beings as human spirits are endowed with Free Will. This means that they are free to make choices and are compelled to experience the consequences of the choices they freely make, in accordance with the Law of Reciprocal Action, which ensures that we reap whatsoever we sow --- good or bad. The length of the interval between sowing and reaping depends on the nature of what is sown and the part of the material world in which the human spirit resides. Sometimes, the nature of what is sown is such that the harvest is not due until the next incarnation on earth (in another physical body) of the human spirit concerned. Tragedies and suffering are the consequences of the wrong and bad choices we human spirits have made during thousands of years of existence involving many incarnations in various parts of the earth and as members of various races, ethnic groups, and communities.

Dorcasde, you exposition are so sound and well informed i agree with you without a shadow of a doubt.

dot2002:

Dorcasde, you exposition are so sound and well informed i agree with you without a shadow of a doubt.

Thanks my dear! May we all receive streght from ABOVE to live in accordance to HIS WILL. AMEN!

Tragedies and Spiritual Progress


The events associated with the terrorist carnage of September 11, 2001 point to an important aspect of the working of the laws of God with respect to tragedies, natural and man-made. This is the fact that victims of tragedies may not have been guilty of any wrongdoing in any sense. While it is true that we do reap whatsoever we sow, it is also the case that not all personal tragedies are the harvests of seeds previously sown in the present or past earth-life. Some of the passengers on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania consciously and voluntarily decided to sacrifice their own lives to save the lives of other people targeted by the terrorists. Hundreds of New York firemen got trapped and were killed while voluntarily trying to save people at the World Trade Center. These people demonstrated superhuman love. They sowed love and they will, in their continuing existence, definitely reap multiples of the love they sowed. Their courageous acts of love are examples of what is called mission karma.

Mission Karma is a fate or a consequence that a person voluntarily accepts in order to fulfill a particular mission. Suppose a house is burning and I enter it to save a child trapped in it. By undertaking the mission, I voluntarily accept the possibility, indeed the likelihood, of being burnt. Any burns I receive are the associated mission karma. In general, any person who voluntarily, and out of genuine love, accepts and carries out a virtuous mission that is associated with dangers is at the same time sowing good seeds --- seeds of pure love. The seeds will grow, mature, and, in due course, yield a bountiful harvest. Such harvests arising from acts of selfless love are the treasures we store for ourselves in heaven; they form points of anchor for the invisible threads that pull us to Paradise, our spiritual home.

God does not at all intervene in the great and small affairs of men, be it wars, accidents, terrorism, natural disasters, etc. From the very beginning, God wove into Creation His perfect Laws, which acting somewhat like a computer program, carry out His Will immutably and irresistibly. God's Love and Justice are built into His unchanging and unchangeable Laws, by which the whole Creation is maintained. Because the Will of God and the Laws that manifest this Will in Creation are perfect, they cannot be improved upon and they cannot be subjected to even the minutest modification. All that God does is to permit His Laws and their applications to be brought to the attention of human beings dwelling on earth and in other parts of material Creation. This is the role that various prophets and spiritual teachers have played over the ages. By adjusting to these Laws voluntarily, human beings receive the immeasurable blessings that are inherent in God's Creation. When we deviate from His Laws, we invite suffering and tragedies on ourselves. Moreover, to appreciate Divine Justice, we should know that every human being has been on earth several times before in other physical bodies. Nobody is here for the first time; therefore, babies are old souls in young bodies. Thus, we all carry with us good and bad karma dating from this and previous earth-lives.

Bad karma and mission karma are, however, not the only explanations for suffering and tragedies. To understand this, we should note that deviation from the path dictated by the Will of God does not always take the form of specific crimes or sins in their ordinary and popular senses. Spiritual inactivity, spiritual indolence and indifference constitute deviation from God's Will, because these go against God's Law of Movement. Motion is a fundamental principle throughout Creation. Even the most casual observation on earth must indicate to us the utmost significance of motion. We note that all matter is in constant movement. If a portion of a fresh, rapidly flowing river is diverted to form a stagnant pool, the pool soon loses its freshness. The river maintains its freshness through movement. A body that is exercised stays healthier than one that does not receive any exercise. In general, any ability that is used improves; one that is not used atrophies. All these are effects of the Law of Movement.

The principle of adaptation is a consequence of the Law of Movement. The human spirit is subject to this same Law of Adaptation. The spiritually receptive part of the brain, the cerebellum, has become stunted relative to the intellectual part, the cerebrum, because human beings have busied themselves almost exclusively with non-spiritual intellectual activities. Thus, we have lost most of our spiritual abilities and hardly appreciate a spiritual outlook on life. The Law of Movement implies that we cannot achieve anything of significance without effort. Thus, indolence of whatever description (physical, mental, spiritual) offends against the Law of Movement, and, therefore, against the Will of God. Without movement the spirit cannot achieve its goal of becoming mature. The spirit must be kept active. Unfortunately, suffering and tragedies are sometimes necessary to generate spiritual movement.

The events of September 11, 2001 demonstrate the fact that tragedies can ignite heroism, generosity, caring and compassion and diverse acts of love. Tragedies may promote reflection about the meaning of life and suggest the need to reorder our priorities and reassess the value we place on material things as well as reconsider our relationships with fellow human beings. These are precisely the actions that make for spiritual progress. Conversely, spiritual indolence or spiritual stagnation may invite tragedies and suffering to jolt us from our spiritual slumber.

Dorcasde!!! You've blown me away completely but i must ask are these thesis yours? not out of spite just that it seem to have been well mediated and thought upon before you actually commit them to writing.

dot2002:

Dorcasde!!! You've blown me away completely but i must ask are these thesis yours? not out of spite just that it seem to have been well mediated and thought upon before you actually commit them to writing.

I'm with you all the way!

dot2002:

Dorcasde!!! You've blown me away completely but i must ask are these thesis yours? not out of spite just that it seem to have been well mediated and thought upon before you actually commit them to writing.

Dot2002

Many thanks for taking time to read my long posts! It doesn't really matter the source; what matters is the content. Gold is gold no matter where it is found, whether in the hand of rich man, a poor man or in the garbage. So, heed the words and not the writer.

Thanks again for reading. I wish you the best in all ramifications of your life.

Dorcasde, heed the word? its slightly more complicated than that and you know it. lol

dot2002:

Dorcasde, heed the word? its slightly more complicated than that and you know it. lol

My dear sister

I was only saying that you should pay attention to the content and not the package, lol

suf·fer·ing (sfr-ng, sfrng)
n.
1. The condition of one who suffers; the bearing of pain or distress.
2. An instance of pain or distress.


That is the dictionary definition of suffering. Many persons however create their own torture in their own minds and many bring it on themselves. @Poster, before you look to God, please look to man and what he is doing to self. I have watched person after person create his/her own hell, from when I was a kid, and then blame God when faced with the consequences of their own actions. God gives us what He will for many reasons but if you really want to learn more on this issue, my advice is that you draw closer to God to gain understanding on how he really works as opposed to how you EXPECT him to work according to your idea of who He ought be instead. @Poster