On Faith
Allen DeLong
One of the greatest gifts
God has given is freedomYou may have heard people ask, Why did God let the Sept. 11, 2001, attack happen? Why did God let this young person die? Why does God allow a mother of small children to get cancer?
We go through our daily routine without thinking about God often. We take responsibility for our lives and do the best we can. But when something tragic happens, we want God to save us from it. If God doesn't, God gets the blame for letting it happen.
Many people wrestle with this problem and use it to deny that God exists.
If God does not interfere, there must not be a God. Or if there is a God, God does not care about us.
To think this way is to not understand one of the greatest gifts God gave to us and how God honors that gift. This great gift is freedom.
It is given to all of us. It is a gift that God will never rescind or violate.
God has given us the freedom to choose or reject Him, to do good or to do evil. Just as God does not violate the gift of freedom when we do good, He will not violate that gift when we do evil.
A family is killed in an accident because of a drunken driver. God does not suspend the laws of nature and nullify the stupidity of the man who drove when he was in no condition to do so. The person who does evil is just as free to exercise his choices as the person who does good.
We enjoy this world and our bodies. They are material things and subject to the laws of nature.
Hurricanes happen because of weather conditions. Cells in our bodies can start multiplying out of control because of some genetic signal we inherit or something we put into our bodies, not because of God's refusal to interfere.
If we enjoy freedom, we must live with its consequences. It is not important to God that we live a long and healthy life. What is important is how we exercise our freedom, the good we have initiated and fostered, and how much we have loved.
The Rev. Allen DeLong is president of Saint Louis School and a member of the Marianist religious order.
RELIGION CALENDAR
