Making Sence Out of Suffering

In the beginning of the book “Night,” by Elie Wiesel, the reader finds a young Jewish boy named Eliezer (a personification of Elie Wiessel and his experience) with a strong belief in God. It even says that he studied the Talmud and other books of the Jewish faith even more than other boys the same age. It is hard to read about a boy and his father’s suffering. At first Elie Wiesel (Eliezer) keeps a strong faith in God. However, that begins to change as he sees his family and his people die and suffer along with him. The Nazi’s seem to literally beat the faith out of him and the other people around him. It gets down to the point that he questions his faith in the God that he studied and who he believed was a loving God and a God who would not let these cruelties continue. He and his father cling to one another and at least have faith in each other as they try to manage and survive each days horrors. Not only does Eliezer start to lose faith in his God but also in humanity itself. At one point Eliezer states that God has been murdered on the gallows together with the child who was caught trying to steal during an air raid. I think this reaction is reasonable considering his condition. He was faithful to God and his religion and he is “rewarded” with unspeakable torture. If I were in the same position I think that I would at least question my faith. Of course, I have not experienced any sort of pain comparable to the kind that Elie Wiesel went through. I think that I would try to survive along with everyone else and try to find a reason and purpose for what little life I would have left. Wisdom literature could help ease a suffering person though. In the book of Job, he suffers greatly but finds relief when God tells him that it was not caused because he had sinned. I sometimes wonder about all the people I hear about that have great faith yet live in the gutters with next to nothing that they can call their own. I think it is because they have hope that God will see their faith and reward them, if not on Earth then in Heaven. If I lost everything today, of course I would wonder why, but then I would try to be hopeful in something and that would be in the grace of God. I have not really suffered to the point that I would question God in this way but I have had a friend recently ask why one of her best friends died without an explanation to why she did. She claims to be agnostic and this was one of her reasoning’s or questions about her faith and God. I did refer her to Job and the Psalms but I also had to be practical as well. I did my best to consul her and I think that these wisdom scriptures helped me out and I hope that they can help her out.

Assignment 6: Remembering the Prophets of the 8th Century

I think that the 8^th century prophets had a great influence on the social justice of that time. These prophets (the ones chosen by God) are the speakers of God. These prophets seem to be the last chance for the Israelites each time they turn away from God. It looks though that the prophets had little effect on the Israelites though because their lessons never really stick for a long period of time before they start to turn their backs on God again. I don’t really get why Israel is so stubborn to get away from God though. He even showed his power through some of these prophets and the Israelites act like these acts never even happened. I think that by sending the prophets shows that God has given up talking directly to the rulers of Israel. This shows that God is starting to give up (or at least getting severely frustrated) on His chosen people. I think all of these stories of the prophets show that God really cares about not getting ignored. The prophets also show brutal determination to try to spread the word of God. I think God really cares that the prophets (and people today for that matter) do what He tells them to even if there is a chance of punishment and torment. I think this implies that the proper worship of God requires determination and continuing faith. One thing that I think we can learn from the Israelites is that God cares about a lasting relationship instead of a being fickle and switching back and forth for personal gain. I think that if a prophet showed up today, I think that he would be disappointed with our lack of social justice. I think that he or she would say to the majority of America that they need to repent and stop being fickle like the Israelites. I also think that this prophet would say that our dedication needs a good stoking or reminder. I think that the prophet would also point out that many Americans have erected (even non-intentional) false gods like television and the people seen on them that we sometimes “worship.” Another thing that is wrong with our society that he or she would point out is that we sometimes take worship in vain and turn it into a social get-together instead of treating it as a time to be with God. I think that I need to remember these lessons that these prophets taught. It is hard for me to remember lessons like these in my everyday life let alone practice them. I do need to take these lessons and make them second nature in my life so that I will never forget them in spirit. Aside just remembering their lessons, I think that I can practice their lessons by letting go of some of my “gods” and “idols” like television, the internet, and even my friends sometimes. I always need to remember God is first in my life so that I don’t fall into the same problems the Israelites had with forgetting what and who is really important.

Assignment 3 - God and Prayer

I do not have many life experiences where I have asked God for something in prayer; or at least none that are really life changing that I would want to reflect on. I do believe in the power of prayer though. I almost think that my requests of God are always petty. For instance, I ask God to help me find things such as my keys and or my wallet. These conversations go something like this: "God, please help me find my keys in the next 10 minutes so that I am not late for work." Sometimes it goes a bit deeper than that though. I sometimes feel lonely and ask God to help me find a girlfriend. This request is still pending so there is not much to reflect on now. I have come to the realization that God has a bigger plan for me than just the day to day "requests," so I try to go with the flow and when I pray, I normally just try to talk to Him about things that happened previously in my life. I like to see God as my big dad that I can just pour out to. This lesson reminds me of the song by Garth Brooks (one of my favorite by him) called "Unanswered Prayers." The song basically tells a story about how "he" once asked God for his "old flame" or girlfriend but winds up with his wife and he thanks God that He didn't answer that prayer. Anyway, I think there is one prayer (or lack there of) that was a hard lesson from God. In my old youth group we had a tradition that we put our names in a hat and drew each others names to be prayed for by that person for the next week. Well, I pulled one of my new friends names and shoved that signed paper into my pants pocket to be forgotten. A couple of days later, I hear on the news and from my family that he died in a car accident. I of course then remember that slip of paper crumpled at the bottom of my pocket and was hit in the stomach with the hard lesson straight from God's righteous fist. My faith was challenged that day and it really got me thinking of the importance and power that the act of prayer can have. Though it was a hard lesson to swallow, my faith is stronger now for it. I think this can be compared to Abraham's story when God told him to sacrifice his son. Abraham must not have liked this yet he still went on and was going to go through with killing his son. God sometimes shows himself in hard lessons of faith such as this and my story, even if it's the last possible moment. These stories help me know that even though God may not answer, he will always keep his promises and my best interest in mind according to His ultimate plan.