The Undiscovered Country

The Age-Old Question

Why do bad things happen to good people?

It's a question we all ask ourselves, especially when the "bad" hits close to home.

Why does a wife lose her husband, a husband his wife, and a mother her son? Why does God seem to turn his back on all the prayers asking for a stay of Death's hand?

It's all so excruciatingly unfair.

Especially when there are so many people who seemingly do nothing but evil remain untouched by the darker side of life.

Will my attempt at an answer sound trite at best?

I can't know the mind of God, why he chooses to grace some with his healing touch here on earth and others he calls home - from our perspective - all too soon.

A few days ago I read Isaiah 57:1-2:

Good people pass away;
         the godly often die before their time.
         But no one seems to care or wonder why.
No one seems to understand
         that God is protecting them from the evil to come.
For those who follow godly paths
         will rest in peace when they die.

Does that really help the family and loved ones left behind? Not really. All we can do is grieve and hope that someday we can breathe without the stab of loss.

All the rest of us can offer is our shoulders, our ears and our tears. None of us leaves this world untouched by losing someone we love sometimes more than life, so none of us ever grieves alone.

Sometimes if that only someone is God himself.

Sure he allows bad things to happen to good people, but that doesn't mean he doesn't grieve with us and offer some measure of comfort. The comfort may come in the form of a kind word, a hug, or a simple passage of scripture that promises a day when Death is not even a faded memory.