On the Other Hand

The previous post may have focused a bit too heavily on the negative, ‘why doesn’t God answer my prayers more obviously,’ side of the issue. While this is an ongoing question for all of us, I think that too often I forget that good things in life require just as much of an explanation as bad things. Thanks Paul for the reminder that so many of the things that we assume are ‘normal’ may in fact be answers to prayers we didn’t have the sense to pray.

Yes it can be confusing to know why God doesn’t do more to get rid of the ‘bad stuff’ in my life (in the world). I suspect that confusion will always be there this side of eternity. But we need to play the game fairly. If God gets interrogated for all of the bad stuff, we at least owe it to ourselves (and to Him) to ask the question about where the good stuff comes from. Yancey calls this ‘the problem of pleasure’ (in contrast to the problem of pain). Our experiences of joy in life should cause us to wonder just as much as our experiences of pain do. I forget who said this but there is a famous quote to the effect that the hardest part about being an atheist is having a moment of pure joy and having no one to thank for it.

Speaking of moments of pure joy (and on a COMPLETELY different and more trivial note)… it’s nice to see some high priced hockey talent beginning to return to Canada!! I am a long-suffering Calgary Flame fan and this new NHL deal is making it fun to be a hockey fan again. It’s nice to go into a season without knowing for certain that your team will be brutal. Sorry for all of you non-sports types. I had to indulge.