And God says, "Oh, shit..."
A common statement made by folks in troubled times is that "God is in control..." Watching what goes on in our world (mass shootings, genocide, famine, war, and on and on), and being both a perpetrator and victim of various types of betrayal and harm, I have a difficult time with simply saying that God is, indeed, in control. I'm not sure if I can love a god who is systematically steering this whole train to eternity...I'm not particularly fond of a deity who sits behind the cosmic 'control panel' watching and directing every event in the universe...a god directly instigating and controlling everything, even the brutally destructive and gut-wrenching epidemics such as the sex slave trade makes me want to vomit. How can we ever be convinced that God is in control? A god like that is indeed a cruel and outright abusive parent.
Is God really in CONTROL?!
At this point, I'm convinced that God is NOT in control. In fact the case could be made that God may be a bit surprised by how bad things have gotten, and I am serious when I write that. I don't mean to imply that he is, as the Deists believe, simply someone who wound up the cosmic 'clock' and sits around watching things transpire while never getting his hands dirty in the process. That's equally cruel, but the passive version of the all-controlling god folks seem so comforted by. I happen to feel like God, if authentically 'loving', is actually doubled over in pain by what is going on...he feels everything...AND he actually does get his hands dirty, intervene, heal, and whatever else you can think of. But I still can't believe that God is in control of EVERYTHING! Becaue a loving God could never be in 'control' of Sweet & Salty's present circumstance, nor would it bring much comfort to folks like her either. It's a blog from a woman who has just had twin boys at the tender 28th week of her pregnancy, and her eloquent writing brings this whole idea to light (not to mention her entire blog is incredibly moving and provocative...both my wife and I wish we could actually meet this fascinating couple, the first cyber folks I've wanted to meet...too bad they live in Nova Scotia). A truly loving God might actually say, "Oh, shit!" upon seeing what happens around here because he's neither sitting back in his easy chair nor is he fiendishly manipulating buttons and switches but rather (and please forgive what may seem a bit trite) somehow loving us. This love may choose to heal Liam and Ben (the twin boys), but the reality is he may not, and who are we to ever be so arrogant to presume that "God is in control..." or that "All things work together for those who love Jesus..."
I'm much more comfortable (well, not necessarily 'comfortable') with the possibility of God being sovereign which feels a bit different than 'controlling' and yet still feels so insufficient. All I can come up with is that in some completely mysterious way the creator of the universe is right there in that infant incubator with those twins (a conclusion Kate, aka Sweet & Salty, has come to regarding her boys). In fact, God's sovereignty or control may be the entirely wrong question to begin with! Perhaps it's more a question of presence and love. Perhaps Yahweh's presence and love are one and the same? Perhaps, as one writer has proposed, we need to focus a bit more on God's powerlessness instead of the pseudo-comfort of an always all-powerful deity (and I don't mean to say that I don't think God is technically without power, I agree that God is indeed omni-potent). I would not know the love of God without somehow experiencing his ever-presence and ever-absence. God is the Author of our lives and yet somehow God is NOT the author of sin and evil, that's where we live day in and day out. An always and all-powerful God only makes things worse, but a present God is there. In the midst of pain and sorrow I want to have friends do what Job's friends did early on in his saga...they sat with him for 7 days without saying a word.
I want to let folks experience God's presence on their own, to make conclusions on their own regarding whether or not God is actually there or in control or sovereign or whatever. I delight in a God who says, "Oh, shit!" It means that what he sees breaks his heart like it breaks mine because this isn't the way it's supposed to be and yet it is the way it is. When God says, "Oh, shit," I'm reminded that God is here and that God is love.
"For the Master of the Universe, whose suffering world I do not comprehend." - From Chaim Potok's My Name is Asher Lev
Comments
Hi Ed. Your post had me nodding, all the way through.. I enjoyed reading it, and was happy to see that my initial thinking prompted more thinking. That's always a good thing.
I love your last paragraph.. beautifully put. I don't think heartbreak is the exclusive domain of us earthbound folk.
Lovely to 'meet' you here. I'll be back to find my own fascinations on you. That's what makes this whole bloggy-thing so great, isn't it? :)
Posted by: sweetsalty kate | May 14, 2007 06:18 PM
Blessings to you and your family, Kate...I was a bit nervous about the possibility of your reading my words. For what it's worth, Heather and I will continue to pray.
Peace & all that stuff!
Posted by: Ed | May 14, 2007 10:07 PM
You have a gift for words on sensitive subjects. I like to think of God as a parent, who has to let His children learn to stand on their own ... even if He'd much rather save them from all harm. How's that song go..., "God is great, but sometime's life's not good...."
Posted by: LuAnn | May 17, 2007 01:04 PM
Ed, hey man I dont' know you but I came across your blog from a friends blog that had this link. I am a little perplexed by one sentance that you wrote:
A truly loving God might actually say, "Oh, shit!" upon seeing what happens around here because he's neither sitting back in his easy chair nor is he fiendishly manipulating buttons and switches but rather (and please forgive what may seem a bit trite) somehow loving us. This love may choose to heal Liam and Ben (the twin boys), but the reality is he may not, and who are we to ever be so arrogant to presume that "God is in control..." or that "All things work together for those who love Jesus..."
This confuses me mainly due the fact that God Himself states that He is in control and that "All things work together for those who love God" He claims those things not you or me, but rather He Himself. In fact that was His rebuke of Job at the end of the book, He asked Job did you make all that you see around you? (paraphrase) He was making the statement that He was larger than Job's understanding.
All of the suffering and evil that has occoured since Genesis chapter 3 until today is the result of a sinful fallen world. Man living in rebellion to Gods ways and Gods plan reap a harvest of death, which manifest itself in various ways. Slavery, Rape, even sickness. If you chose to have a veiw of this world as your home then you will be bummed out by the state of it. Rather embracing the eternal life you can see that God has literally bankrupt heaven so that we can exist eternally without even the presence of evil and death. He laid all of this on His son at the cross. When you belong to Him you no longer live for this world, you understand this life is but a vapor. When someone with a terminal illness knows that they are secure in Gods hands for eternity then dealing with that illness is completly different for them. Yes they have fear, doubt, sadness, even depression, but they also have faith in a God bigger than those things. God is so much in control that He has written history before it has happened! He knows all and sees all period. Does God know the pain possibly of losing a child? I say yes because He did not spare His only son for me and you, but delivered Him to death for our sake. I hope this does not come across as critical to you, but this is an open forum and I do think that it is important to veiw God as He has revealed Himself first.
Posted by: Turner Miles | May 31, 2007 10:36 AM
Thanks for your feedback...ultimately my point is that in our time of need and pain (i.e. the blog I'm referencing in this post) God may in fact seem absent and for all intents and purposes not in control. Indeed, Job's story helps here, and you hit the nail on the head...God's ways are beyond ours (and is in fact the issue at hand when I mention the idea of presence and love, that's way beyond me)...which is the point of my own thoughts here. I've just chosen to approach it from a different perspective (and not simply for the sake of being different but because Sweet & Salty is expressing something core to every humans' experience and it has touched my soul more deeply than any of my own theological musings).
I would hope that folks will respond with care in every situation where someone is faced with pain or suffering or whatever...
Posted by: Ed | June 2, 2007 08:43 AM