Posted by non-believ... on June 16, 2008 6:56 PM

God is a false hope. We only have ourselves to change the world. We can choose to think there is a god sending us to help the less fortunate and teaching us lessons through tragedy, or we can take responsibility for the what's happening in the world ourselves. Life is full of tragedies and disasters, but we can look to the hope provided by humanity rather than trying to make sense of the actions of an imaginary supernatural being.

Posted by Jordan McK... on June 04, 2008 11:44 PM

His people are doing His work because we are the hands of God.

Posted by Courtney N... on June 01, 2008 7:15 AM

choice brings heartache, pain, and suffering. however, choice also brings something that the whole world strives for, freedom. if God interfered with every tragic episode that came to be on earth, he would ultimately be commiting something even more tragic by doing so, he would be taking away something that people have killed over, hurt over, and gave their lives for. freedom. the freedom to oppress, to dictate, to lie, to cheat, to hate, to kill. but also, to love, to hold, to laugh, to embrace, and ultimately, to help. i know how difficult it is to see these things first hand and wonder how a 'God' of love and grace could allow life to stoop so low. walking the streets of Lima, Peru constantly seeing five year old girls trying to sell themselves to 45 year men for as much as 50 cents in american dollars was one of the most heartbreaking sights i'd ever laid eyes on. the man led the girl to cafe a few stores down, bought her a meal, and left her everything in his pockets. and it hit me, beneath the murder, rape, adultury, sexism, racial descrimination, homaphobia there are people who can make a difference, people who recognize the choice that God gave them and they distribute that love one trial, one tragedy, one person at a time.

Posted by xinme on May 25, 2008 11:33 PM

Itn't funny how after every disaster or some tragic event we often ask where God is in the situation. However, we often want him to come to our needs, but we rarely peruse him. People today are not inviting God into their lives so that HE can help. God will do any thing for his children who believes in his son Jesus Christ. Just until recently I denied this, but now I know.

God loves everyone, and wants a relationship with you. All you have to do is believe.

Many people believe in Santa, Tooth fairy, and even the pagen Easter Bunny. So why is so hard for us to believe something that is actually documented?

Posted by Gobi on May 23, 2008 1:36 AM

I think you passed by Him at the airport in Vancouver today. anyways, He doesnt give a damn. The last time He showed up, people nailed Him on the cross.

Posted by PYS on May 21, 2008 1:32 PM

WHY?

"On the street I saw a small girl
cold and shivering in a thin dress,
with little hope of a decent meal.

I became angry and said to God:
'Why did you permit this?
Why don't you do something about it?'

For a while God said nothing.
That night he replied, quite suddenly:

'I certainly did something about it.
I made you.'"


It reminds me that instead of asking why?, we should
ask what can we do?

Posted by John R. on May 14, 2008 7:00 PM

Where are you God? A friend ask that question of me today. Humm funny how this question is so prevalent. What God won't do, won't make you win the lottery, won't stop a speeding car from going over the edge of a cliff. Won't stop pain and suffering.

What I have come to believe is that there is God in each and every one of us. It is what we do with that God that matters most. How do we treat others? Do we offer comfort in times of need or do we wait for God to do it. Do we take time to return a smile or do we look away. Do we focus on the differences, or do we try to find that common ground-that thread that we all share which to me is that little piece of God.

Posted by Lee on May 14, 2008 1:29 AM

“Why?”Answering the Hardest of Questions
“WHY?” It is tragic to see how much anguish and pain can be packed into that simple word. People often ask that question after disaster or tragedy strikes: A hurricane sweeps through a region, leaving death and destruction in its wake. An earthquake reduces a city to rubble. A terrorist attack changes a quiet, routine day into a nightmare of fear and violence. Or an accident injures or takes the life of a loved one.

Religious leaders have offered a confusing variety of answers

All too often, the victims include the most innocent and defenseless among us. Recent times have brought more than their share of such disasters, causing many to cry out to God, “Why?” Consider some examples:
“Why did you do this to us, God? What did we do to upset you?” Reuters news agency reported that an elderly woman in India asked those questions after a tsunami devastated her village.
“Where was God? And if God has ultimate control, why did God let this happen?” These questions were raised by a newspaper in Texas, U.S.A., after a gunman opened fire in a church, wounding and killing a number of worshippers.
“Why did God allow her to die?” A woman asked this question after cancer took her friend’s life, leaving the deceased’s husband to care for their five children.

These people are not alone in thinking that God is somehow behind their troubles. Regarding natural disasters, for example, nearly half the respondents in a recent Internet poll felt that disasters such as hurricanes come from God. Why do so many feel that way?".......................
this info & more info can be found at the following site
http://www.watchtower.org/e/200611/article_01.htm

Posted by hyungmee on May 14, 2008 12:45 AM

hi lisa,
yes, i must say that this, for me, is also a hard question to answer. i don't know if there will ever be a satisfactory answer for us. but, i know that in these desperate times, his hand and his presence can become so real. i am overwhelmed by the devastation and pray that the psalmist words would be true: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging” (Psalm 46:1–3, NIV).

Posted by mtvcdm on May 10, 2008 8:52 AM

I don't think there's an easy, or for that matter desirable, answer to it. The best religious answer I can come up with comes out of the Eastern models, with reincarnation.

*For the poor and oppressed, it's possible (though not pleasant to think about) that they had done something in a previous life that got them shipped off to Burma in this life. You may have heard someone remark about some jerk, "In his next life he'll come back as some Burmese peasant" or something along those lines. Well, here's that Burmese peasant. If they had lived good lives in Burma, they'll get a better draw next time around and not have to go through this anymore.

*As for the military junta which had taken over by force, closed the borders to humanitarian aid, confiscated aid that did get through, and then distributed it with their names printed on it in shameless campaigning for a sham referendum, I have no idea what they did in their previous lives, but next time, expect them to be the poor oppressed people drowning in floodwaters. If they're lucky.

It's not exactly going to make you feel better about it by any stretch of the imagination. I feel icky just writing it. But it's the best I can come up with on short notice.

Posted by theresa on May 10, 2008 8:39 AM

Lisa,
I've been following your blog and your pieces on television for awhile. Keep doing what you're doing!

Anyway, I don't think the question should be asked "where is God?" I imagine God is asking each one of us, "Where are YOU?" It is up to us to love and help one another, and this is how w express God's love. Often we look for a revelatory event to say we've seen/felt the presence of God, but He is within all of us...waiting to express Himself through us.

We have to simply open ourselves to His possibilities, and ultimately, to our own.

Posted by  on May 10, 2008 2:31 AM

They're like bugs, yeah. They swarm to wherever the spot light is pointed at. If we only had a spot light of our own, yeah...oh...the possibilities