The Problem of Evil

There is so much pain and suffering in the world - poverty, violence, war, cruelty, injustice, inequality - the sad litany goes on.

One thing I have struggled with over the years is the problem of evil - how can a loving God let such things happen? But having really tussled with this over the past couple of years, I have come to a belief that I am content with. I believe that natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods, are just that - natural. I don't think that the God I believe in has the power to intervene in the affairs of the world.

So far as man-made evil is concerned, I think it is the result of human beings individually making the wrong choices, which cause them to do evil things, and separate themselves from God. Or, people standing by and doing nothing when evil is happening. Which I would call a sin of omission rather than commission.

As to how to overcome evil, God can only act through us - that divine spark that is in each one of us can nudge us into doing the right thing to alleviate or prevent suffering and make the world a better place. No one person will ever entirely succeed, but the attempt has to be made.

I'm also coming round to the concept of grace - God's love of us as an unconditional gift, being offered moment by moment to all of us, if only we had the eyes to see and the ears to hear.

So today I see God as a loving Being who is "out there" but also deep in every human being, perhaps in all sentient beings. My cat is certainly capable of love.