Thoughts about what's going on in the world.

I know we've heard it all before and have probably written about it ourselves. Something is going down in the world. Natural disasters, politicians making decisions against the people, without the people, and for themselves. It begs to ask the question what is the point of our existence. To steal? to cheat others? To live a life of struggle only to have a government take what you have worked so hard for and diminish its value? Are we supposed to live in fear every single day? Let's go to the basics.

We exist. Why do we exist? Stephen Hawking, Pope Benedict XVI, and Kim Jong Il may have very different answers for you, but we do know that as humans we have the power to do good and to do evil. If I wanted to, I could do whatever evil I desired, and God would not stop me. So theoretically, mankind as a whole could live in an evil manner and God would not stop it. So do we exist to do evil then? Well, evil breeds chaos. Since the nature of chaos seems to prove "unnaturalness," then one can assume that evil is unnatural to the Human Experience. Then why is it so prevalent, seemingly?

A woman that lied to police and led them astray when police were trying to find her missing daughter is now free after being found not guilty of murdering her kid. Justice served? Osama Bin Laden is dead. Now members of Seal Team 6 have been killed by terrorists. Has justice truly been served? When will the circle end? IS evil prevailing?

How long will you judge unjustly and favor the cause of the wicked? Defend the lowly and fatherless
render justice to the afflicted and needy. Rescue the lowly and poor; deliver them from the hand of the
wicked. Gods though you be, offspring of the Most High all of you, yet like any mortal you shall die; like
any prince you shall fall. - Psalm 82:2-4,6-7

Can we assume that man was therefore made for the good? We can derive that if man is "good," a society can be upheld, can thrive, and can grow. If we love, truly love, man can deal with such societal issues as debt deficits, health care reforms, international relations, etc. If man acts in a way that is charitable towards another, that never ending circle seems to be a good thing. Imagine a cycle of good that never ends! What a great "problem" to have. How difficult that is for us to love though. To love another implies forgetting self. To forget self means to deny ourselves of our wants and desires for a moment and to think about another. Therein lies the difficulty of love. Not just romantic love, but truly loving our neighbor is made difficult by the necessity to forget ourselves and to focus on someone else; someone we may never meet. But we are called to love.

But what about natural disasters? So we love, we do good, but a country gets hit by a tsunami that derails its whole economic system, agricultural progress, and industrial center. Is love enough? In the words of the great Reverend Lovejoy in an attempt to answer Ned Flanders' question about whether God was punishing Ned due to all the bad things that were happening to Ned, "...ooooh short answer yes with an if, long answer no with a but..." Of course the Simpsons remains the answer to all of life's difficult questions. Love is enough when it becomes everything. When love is all that we have, it is enough. When love is all that matters, it is enough. When love is made important, it beats out anything that is subservient.

Bad things happen. Those events that we CAN control, should be handled in a manner that serves all and makes known the needs of all. Those events and instances in which justice lies in the palm of our hands, those are the times in which love needs to deliver justice and peace; not hatred, malice, and indifference. During the times that we can't control the bad, we need to act with love. Because, when there is nothing left, there is love. For when nothing was, God is.