Trying to answer 'where was God?'

The response of the people in our Diocese to the December tsunami disaster, which killed more than 150,000 people and left millions homeless and destitute, has been unprecedented.

To date, more than $800,000 has been donated by parishioners, students and others in our Diocese -- more than double any previous special collection.

This overwhelming generosity is due to the tremendous magnanimity of the people throughout our 14 counties. I thank all who contributed. We can be assured that, through the excellent network of Catholic Relief Services, the money collected will be channeled directly to meet the immediate and long-term needs of the victims of this cataclysmic disaster.

Where was God?

The tsunami, which erupted so suddenly and violently, raised very powerfully and poignantly some perplexing questions: "Where is God in all of this? How can one explain the actions of a God who created these seemingly uncontrollable forces of nature and tolerates the death of thousands of innocent people in a few terrible seconds?"

Some suggest that to posit an answer to this question is futile. For example, Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, asks, "If some religious genius did come up with an explanation of exactly why all these deaths made sense, would we feel happier, safer or more confident in God?"

Yet, to be human is to seek meaning (which is not the same as an explanation). For us as Christians, such meaning is to be found in our shared story and God's place in it.

Christian story

As Tina Beattie, a professor of Christian studies at Roehampton University in England, notes, "The Christian story is about a cosmic struggle between life and death. To trust in the ultimate power of God's love does not diminish the horror of violent death (such as the tsunami created).

"The Christian God is not some abstract, omnipotent, omniscient power, but a God whose power is expressed in a love that participates in our struggle against death by becoming one of us and dying for us. Thus, we must look for God not in the power that moves the waves but in the suffering of the victims and the love of those who comfort them."

God, in other words, reveals Himself in Jesus of Nazareth; and here we begin to see how far we are from God's idea of what power means. The Orthodox priest and writer, Father John Garvey, puts it this way: "Our idea of power is represented by enormity and force: We think of kings, armies -- and tidal waves. If we were God, we would have placed our almighty hand on the floor of the ocean and prevented this shift of tectonic plates; we would have sent armies of angels to fly people to safe ground."

God's power

But that is not the universe about which the Scriptures speak, nor the one in which God chose to reveal the divine plan. When God approaches us, He comes as an infant who needs to be cared for, who grows into a man frustrated by the hard-heartedness of His hearers and even His disciples, who challenges the political and religious leaders of His day, who experiences fear and sorrow, and, finally, who feels utterly abandoned. But, because of His obedience to His Father's will, He destroys the power of death and leads us to resurrection.

That is not power as we understand it, but God's ways are not our ways, nor are God's plans our plans. That is why God's interaction with us is always somewhat shrouded in mystery.

How, then, should we as Christians respond to adversity, when we are confronted with incomprehension and absurdity, such as the tsunami disaster? With hope!

As the Apostle Peter exclaimed "Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3).

God's work

We Christians believe that creation is the continuing work of a loving God, and that calls us to be people of hope. For example, the willingness of the victims of the tsunami to rebuild lives from the rubble bears witness to the power of creativity and hope over death and destruction.

And the outpouring of love, support and generosity on behalf of those victims witnesses dramatically to our solidarity with one another in the human family -- and to our belief that suffering in life is truly redemptive, that defeat and failure are only temporary, and that, in the final analysis, "neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).

Seeking hope

The renowned 20th-century theologian, Jesuit Father Teilhard de Chardin, stated that the world will belong to those who can offer it the most hope. His fellow Frenchman, Cardinal Jean Danielou, put it this way: "It is not that the world doubts Christians, but it is that Christians no longer believe and hope in themselves."

That, I would submit, is the problem of our day. Too often, we as Christians present to a world starved for hope not, as St. Paul proclaimed, the image of a people sure of who we are and what we stand for, but the image of a people more cowed by fear than borne up by hope.

As followers of Jesus, we must be people of hope...people who are more determined in our defense of human rights and human dignity...more passionate in our pursuit of racial justice and social equality...more resolute in our attempts to establish genuine Christian community...more vigorous in our sensibilities...more enthusiastic in our causes...and more humane and compassionate in our ministry of healing and reconciliation.

People of hope

Granted, that is a tall order; the battle against cynicism, discouragement, disillusionment, apathy and indifference is a constant one. But the hopeful mystery of the death and Resurrection of Jesus requires nothing less on our part.

May the tsunami disaster remind us of the Gospel call to be people of hope, and may we radiate that hope in all of our interactions with family, friends, parishioners and those whom we encounter on our everyday journey.

(3/3/05)