This is the balance
I mentioned in the "A Breath" post that sometimes we lose hope, lose faith when we see things that seem cruel or unfair happening in the world. How does a just God let His people suffer?
Well, first let's take a look at some of the ways in which the whole world is suffering- the possible areas where "God is just letting us suffer." Here is a list, in no particular order, of some of the major challenges facing the world right now.
1) Environmental Crisis
2) Corruption (Especially political)
3) Disunity
4) Gross inequalities in the distribution of wealth, food, and natural resources
5) Human Rights violations of all kinds
Each one of those provides enough material for tomes of discussion, so let's just look at the environment and the unequal distribution of resources, for today. (By look at, I really mean just inspect the surface of the surface.)
1- Environmental Crises- These in turn have an effect on- can augment- the natural disasters that seem to be taking an upsurge in recent times. Now, can we really blame God for the destruction of the environment when we human beings, the custodians of the earth, the only species singled out to have rational thought, are the ones destroying the very handiwork of the Creator we later like to blaspheme against? Where is God when these things happen?
Well....where were we when He told us exactly what to do? Does not EVERY SINGLE major world religion teach moderation? That one teaching alone, that ONE teaching alone could prevent so many of the crises we are now experiencing. A people and a society bent on satisfying every whim, indulging in every pleasure, no matter what the cost to the world around it, will undoubtedly suffer the consequences of the ruin its own hands work steadily to bring about. And it's not like God just abandons us when we mess everything up. Look at the conditions of the time and place of Revelation of all the Manifestations, of all the Prophets of God.
Did Moses not come at the lowest ebb in the fortunes and character of the Israelites? Did He not come to free them from oppression and bring them the law of God? Laws to set their society in order?
Did Jesus not come after those same people- who once had been redeemed- had yet again slipped into heedlessness, godlessness, idolatry, and immorality? And did He not bring them the message of individual salvation? Teach them how to know and better love God? How to treat their fellow man, with justice, with charity?
Did Muhammad not come to the most vile, barbaric, inhumane tribes- tribes known for burying their daughters alive- for being so savage as to almost lose the right to be termed human beings- and did He not teach these warring tribes to unite as nations? Did Islam not cause the affairs of these people to prosper? Was it not the source of tremendous medical and scientific advances? The source of the flourishing of society?
And once again, when the entire world slipped into materialism, fanaticism, divisions of creed and class and gender, did God not send us Baha'u'llah amidst the most fanatical elements of society, the most corrupt clergy in the world, to bring the message of unity- not just tribal, not just ethnic- but universal, world embracing? And did He not bring, too, laws to set the world in order- to reestablish the balance- the unerring balance of God?
But what happened to each of these Messengers of God? These great Teachers?
Moses reviled. Jesus brutally and cruelly crucified. Muhammad ridiculed, spat upon, insulted. Baha'u'llah exiled for forty years- imprisoned in the darkest, dankest, smelliest, dirtiest pits and prisons in the world. Feet beaten raw and then forced to walk barefoot for days in the snow. Forced to wear 16 pound chains on His frail shoulders. Forty years of torture.
This is how we receive the emissaries of God, but does He stop sending them? Does He give up on the human race even though we always slip into depravity? Or does He continue to send us guides, teachers, prophets to continue our evolution, to continue the advancement of our civilization, to allow us an opportunity to know Him and draw nearer unto Him?
So, rather than turn our faces to the sky and cry out to God, "why have you abandoned us", when will we turn our ears to His teachings? When will we FINALLY recognize Him in His day, follow His teachings and learn not to make waste of the precious days of our fleeting lives? How to use the resources He has so plentifully endowed our planet with for the betterment of the world?
Is it really God's fault that so many are hungry and starving when this planet has more than enough resources to feed everyone? Did He ever say that one people in one corner of the world should accrue it all while the rest suffer? Or did He say through Jesus that we should give to the poor? That "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me"? Did He not establish through Muhammad charity as one of the five pillars of His religion? Does He not say through Baha'u'llah that the poor are His trust amongst us, and to "tell the rich of the midnight sighing of the poor, lest heedlessness lead them into the path of destruction...to give and to be generous are attributes of Mine; well is it with him that adorneth Himself with My virtues"?
So, who's fault is it? The Creator who gives us the resources and the teachings, or the creatures who turn a blind eye and a deaf ear?
Well, first let's take a look at some of the ways in which the whole world is suffering- the possible areas where "God is just letting us suffer." Here is a list, in no particular order, of some of the major challenges facing the world right now.
1) Environmental Crisis
2) Corruption (Especially political)
3) Disunity
4) Gross inequalities in the distribution of wealth, food, and natural resources
5) Human Rights violations of all kinds
Each one of those provides enough material for tomes of discussion, so let's just look at the environment and the unequal distribution of resources, for today. (By look at, I really mean just inspect the surface of the surface.)
1- Environmental Crises- These in turn have an effect on- can augment- the natural disasters that seem to be taking an upsurge in recent times. Now, can we really blame God for the destruction of the environment when we human beings, the custodians of the earth, the only species singled out to have rational thought, are the ones destroying the very handiwork of the Creator we later like to blaspheme against? Where is God when these things happen?
Well....where were we when He told us exactly what to do? Does not EVERY SINGLE major world religion teach moderation? That one teaching alone, that ONE teaching alone could prevent so many of the crises we are now experiencing. A people and a society bent on satisfying every whim, indulging in every pleasure, no matter what the cost to the world around it, will undoubtedly suffer the consequences of the ruin its own hands work steadily to bring about. And it's not like God just abandons us when we mess everything up. Look at the conditions of the time and place of Revelation of all the Manifestations, of all the Prophets of God.
Did Moses not come at the lowest ebb in the fortunes and character of the Israelites? Did He not come to free them from oppression and bring them the law of God? Laws to set their society in order?
Did Jesus not come after those same people- who once had been redeemed- had yet again slipped into heedlessness, godlessness, idolatry, and immorality? And did He not bring them the message of individual salvation? Teach them how to know and better love God? How to treat their fellow man, with justice, with charity?
Did Muhammad not come to the most vile, barbaric, inhumane tribes- tribes known for burying their daughters alive- for being so savage as to almost lose the right to be termed human beings- and did He not teach these warring tribes to unite as nations? Did Islam not cause the affairs of these people to prosper? Was it not the source of tremendous medical and scientific advances? The source of the flourishing of society?
And once again, when the entire world slipped into materialism, fanaticism, divisions of creed and class and gender, did God not send us Baha'u'llah amidst the most fanatical elements of society, the most corrupt clergy in the world, to bring the message of unity- not just tribal, not just ethnic- but universal, world embracing? And did He not bring, too, laws to set the world in order- to reestablish the balance- the unerring balance of God?
But what happened to each of these Messengers of God? These great Teachers?
Moses reviled. Jesus brutally and cruelly crucified. Muhammad ridiculed, spat upon, insulted. Baha'u'llah exiled for forty years- imprisoned in the darkest, dankest, smelliest, dirtiest pits and prisons in the world. Feet beaten raw and then forced to walk barefoot for days in the snow. Forced to wear 16 pound chains on His frail shoulders. Forty years of torture.
This is how we receive the emissaries of God, but does He stop sending them? Does He give up on the human race even though we always slip into depravity? Or does He continue to send us guides, teachers, prophets to continue our evolution, to continue the advancement of our civilization, to allow us an opportunity to know Him and draw nearer unto Him?
So, rather than turn our faces to the sky and cry out to God, "why have you abandoned us", when will we turn our ears to His teachings? When will we FINALLY recognize Him in His day, follow His teachings and learn not to make waste of the precious days of our fleeting lives? How to use the resources He has so plentifully endowed our planet with for the betterment of the world?
Is it really God's fault that so many are hungry and starving when this planet has more than enough resources to feed everyone? Did He ever say that one people in one corner of the world should accrue it all while the rest suffer? Or did He say through Jesus that we should give to the poor? That "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me"? Did He not establish through Muhammad charity as one of the five pillars of His religion? Does He not say through Baha'u'llah that the poor are His trust amongst us, and to "tell the rich of the midnight sighing of the poor, lest heedlessness lead them into the path of destruction...to give and to be generous are attributes of Mine; well is it with him that adorneth Himself with My virtues"?
So, who's fault is it? The Creator who gives us the resources and the teachings, or the creatures who turn a blind eye and a deaf ear?
Comments
when were you in Haifa ? some of my friends have been there recently from Australia.
Safa from my community just came back from Haifa about two weeks ago, there was also Isra, and Mehran, and Zoha and Amir who I think are still there. hehe there are actually stacks of Aussies there.