" I know what the world has done to my brother and how narrowly he has survived it. And I know, which is much worse, and this is the crime of which I accuse my country and countrymen, and for which neither I nor time nor history will ever forgive them, that they have destroyed and are destroying hundreds of thousands of lives and do not know it and do not want to know it."
~James Baldwin from The Fire Next Time
~James Baldwin from The Fire Next Time
By: Angela Mayah Solstice
Hello! I am writing to you from a crisp and sunny day here in New York. I hope you are well. So much is going on around the world, during prayer last night my teenager asked a question we’ve all felt or heard at one point, “Why does God allow so much suffering to go on in the world?” My middle child piped in and replied, “God gives us choices.” It’s hard to convince an intellect like my daughter on these sort of philosophies, so I held my peace and let her sister have a go at it for awhile. Finally, I closed up the conversation and said this…
God created this world and gave us free will. He didn’t create it to have control over us or to micromanage it all. I believe that to stay connected to God and seek God was originally a normal and natural way of being—not forced in any way. Over time people and society matured into whatever they became, guided and lead by whatever Higher Power came to be in their life. Although the world can seem like a chaotic, scary and unfair place—I believe that those who continuously seek God will find the peace and answers they are looking for. I always end the prayer with asking God to speak to each of the children in a way they can understand.
Are you afraid by what you see going on in the world right now? Do you have more questions than answers? Do you sometimes just not see the point of life? If so, I understand. I’ve felt strong emotions in concern to these sorts of questions. I realized to try and figure out the whole world or attach myself to all it’s suffering, was going to stress me out more than anything. I found solace in disconnecting from the world when possible and simply seeking God for the answers to my life and my purpose. God has answers for you, the more you allow yourself to hear from God, the better you will feel. The more you have faith that whatever you hear is not meant to shame you or bring you down, you'll be able to receive better. Soon you will begin to trust God more and even yourself.
Are
you reading this on a mobile device? Scroll down and click “Web Version”
to see more content and info. Thank you for visiting!
We have certain philosophies that we can not find them easy to break down to our young kids eg, why does God allows a lot of suffering to go in the world. Thanks for this, may Allah be with you.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely and thank you.
Delete