who do they turn to?

the news has me down in the dumps again. i know i shouldn't watch it. i know what happens when i do. i fall in this rut, thinking about how my life is good and great and so much calamity happens elsewhere, to better people than i.

100 dead in iraq. hospital collapse in saudi arabia. 12 miners dead, one in critical condition in the US. it isn't fair.

this reminds me of a very basic philosophical argument presented in the very first class of philosophy of religion. professor ellin gave us this article about evil in the world, terrible things happening, and he asked us "how could there be a loving caring God, such as the one in christianity, when there is so much death, destruction and evil in the world?" and it is something that many people think about. bad things happen to good people. in misery we feel alone. we stray. perhaps it is God testing us, the mettle of our faith. maybe he has a really sick sense of humour. we don't know. we can't know for sure.

my faith tells me that God is always there, and always will be. and just because something doesn't go right in this world, in my life doesn't mean he has stopped loving me. the objective me gives fleeting thought to the possibility that there is no God, but that doesn't feel right in my heart. i feel Him there. and that is all i need to know.

so i have to trust that his plan for me, for my family, for the whole world, is far grander than i could ever concieve.