Week of Sept 23, 2001
Hello all,
One more week to go and then we start exams. I am glad that Breathe Free will be finishing up so I can get some studying in finally, but I will miss meeting with the attendees. They are a great group and are very motivated. It is encouraging just to talk with them.
In the last couple of weeks I have heard many question how a loving God could allow terrible tragedies like we have experienced. While I agree with Billy Graham that it is simply a mystery which we will probably never fully understand, I have a scientific mind that strives for some reason. So, although I should probably, like Job, place my hand over my mouth, I would like to share some of my thoughts. It seems to me that when people analyze God's character they often cannot comprehend how God could be loving and omnipotent and yet allow suffering. I think they leave out one very important detail, freedom. President Bush said that freedom and fear have always been at war and if we look at the United States and Afghanistan the difference is apparent. We live in a country where freedom is gauranteed in our constitution. Our freedom gives us the ability to perform both selfless acts of kindness and selfish acts of destruction. In Afghanistan the Taliban leaders attempt to dictate religion and morality to the people. I believe that God is love and that love is a choice; it cannot be forced. I wonder if those who would make God into a moral dictator to alleviate suffering have stopped to consider the difference between freedom and fear.
These are my musings, I would love to hear your thoughts,
Brenton Reading
