In the wake of the tsunami...

#1 · January 18, 2005, 10:08 am

Quote from Forum Archives on January 18, 2005, 10:08 am
Posted by: henkf <henkf@...>
In the wake of the tsunami...

In the wake of the tsunami disaster and al the fall out from it I would like to offer some theological affirmations and convictions, I believe to be appropriate at this time.

I believe that, first and foremost, this situation calls on all people—people of all faiths, and those without faith—to act on their most basic notions of compassion and solidarity. For most of us, who are far from the disaster scenes, that action means giving money to relief efforts. Loving prayers of compassion that don’t also include significant giving simply won’t cut it. Your denomination, World Vision, or the Red Cross will make efficient use of your donation. This is the core ethical matter. Do it.

However, beyond the immediate funding of relief efforts, we get into more philosophical territory.

A number of writers have suggested that the earthquake and the ensuing tsunami were caused by God in some pre-meditated fashion to punish the wicked (“... look at the sextrade in some of those area’s...”), to warn of the impending end times (“... just see what revelations says will happen...”) or even to call the survivors into a life style of deeper compassion (“... just see the way these people live in class systems and so on...”

It will be a blessing for all of us and for the world as a whole if we grow in compassion and develop deeper relationships, as a result of this tragedy. But God has better ways to nurture compassions than killing hundreds of thousands of people.

Why do we interpret everything that happens as being centered on our experiences? The intentions of God and the workings of nature are not all about humans. The Earth was there before us and will be there after us and has its own place in God’s plan and we need to see the meaning of this event in the light of the entire history of the planet and the outworking of natural laws put in place long before man came about to interpret them.

“When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have established; what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man, that You visit him?” (Psalms 8:3-4 MKJV)

As we see the immense power of the created order we do well to respond with awe and humility. And we need to keep our own significance in perspective when we look at geological forces - slabs of rock that are shifted with enough force to make the entire planet wobble and oceans waves that travel thousands of miles at airplane speeds and then still pack enough power to demolish entire cities.

We must take reasonable steps to live with the forces of nature - making use of technology to build earthquake-resistant construction and employing good sanitation to reduce the spread of disease. However to pretend that we can live outside the forces and relationships of nature and stand above these forces, is totally misguided and is guaranteed to fail. We desperately need to develop theology and ethics that help us live as a part of the natural systems of the world because there are and always will be limits to the human ability to control the forces of nature and we can never make the world totally safe and predictable.

The earthquake and the waves have no human cause behind them and the scope of this event pushes us outside of our normal moral categories. Rich and poor alike were killed and displaced, although, of course, the long-term effects will be hardest on the poor. There are not, apparently, any gross failures or abuses in providing available relief and aid—only the inability of local, national and international systems to respond adequately to such a widespread catastrophe. Blame and fault, sin and evil, are categories that just don’t fit here. Rather than pointing fingers at others, we do better to acknowledge our own limitations.

Theology is easier when we believe that God is either totally in control, or utterly powerless. As people of faith, though, our goal is not to have a simple and tidy theology, but to have a theology that is honest and insightful in the most challenging situations.

In this time of great human disaster, may we first of all seek to meet the urgent and long-term needs. Then, in our faithful musings, may we not shy away from hard questions and challenging demands. For in that place of tension we will find real faithfulness.

…..
  ************************************  Weekly messages of hope and comfort for those who want to learn more about Jesus and His glorious plan for our lives.  To find out more about our ministry go to : worldoutreach.ca/sotn.htm  visit our "Ultimate Bible Quiz Site"  folsom.sk.ca/k4j/BQuiz/Quiz.html  *************************************                                                                              --  To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: [email protected]  

Posted by: henkf <henkf@...>

In the wake of the tsunami...

In the wake of the tsunami disaster and al the fall out from it I would like to offer some theological affirmations and convictions, I believe to be appropriate at this time.

I believe that, first and foremost, this situation calls on all people—people of all faiths, and those without faith—to act on their most basic notions of compassion and solidarity. For most of us, who are far from the disaster scenes, that action means giving money to relief efforts. Loving prayers of compassion that don’t also include significant giving simply won’t cut it. Your denomination, World Vision, or the Red Cross will make efficient use of your donation. This is the core ethical matter. Do it.

However, beyond the immediate funding of relief efforts, we get into more philosophical territory.

A number of writers have suggested that the earthquake and the ensuing tsunami were caused by God in some pre-meditated fashion to punish the wicked (“... look at the sextrade in some of those area’s...”), to warn of the impending end times (“... just see what revelations says will happen...”) or even to call the survivors into a life style of deeper compassion (“... just see the way these people live in class systems and so on...”

It will be a blessing for all of us and for the world as a whole if we grow in compassion and develop deeper relationships, as a result of this tragedy. But God has better ways to nurture compassions than killing hundreds of thousands of people.

Why do we interpret everything that happens as being centered on our experiences? The intentions of God and the workings of nature are not all about humans. The Earth was there before us and will be there after us and has its own place in God’s plan and we need to see the meaning of this event in the light of the entire history of the planet and the outworking of natural laws put in place long before man came about to interpret them.

“When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have established; what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man, that You visit him?” (Psalms 8:3-4 MKJV)

As we see the immense power of the created order we do well to respond with awe and humility. And we need to keep our own significance in perspective when we look at geological forces - slabs of rock that are shifted with enough force to make the entire planet wobble and oceans waves that travel thousands of miles at airplane speeds and then still pack enough power to demolish entire cities.

We must take reasonable steps to live with the forces of nature - making use of technology to build earthquake-resistant construction and employing good sanitation to reduce the spread of disease. However to pretend that we can live outside the forces and relationships of nature and stand above these forces, is totally misguided and is guaranteed to fail. We desperately need to develop theology and ethics that help us live as a part of the natural systems of the world because there are and always will be limits to the human ability to control the forces of nature and we can never make the world totally safe and predictable.

The earthquake and the waves have no human cause behind them and the scope of this event pushes us outside of our normal moral categories. Rich and poor alike were killed and displaced, although, of course, the long-term effects will be hardest on the poor. There are not, apparently, any gross failures or abuses in providing available relief and aid—only the inability of local, national and international systems to respond adequately to such a widespread catastrophe. Blame and fault, sin and evil, are categories that just don’t fit here. Rather than pointing fingers at others, we do better to acknowledge our own limitations.

Theology is easier when we believe that God is either totally in control, or utterly powerless. As people of faith, though, our goal is not to have a simple and tidy theology, but to have a theology that is honest and insightful in the most challenging situations.

In this time of great human disaster, may we first of all seek to meet the urgent and long-term needs. Then, in our faithful musings, may we not shy away from hard questions and challenging demands. For in that place of tension we will find real faithfulness.

…..

  ************************************  Weekly messages of hope and comfort for those who want to learn more about Jesus and His glorious plan for our lives.  To find out more about our ministry go to : worldoutreach.ca/sotn.htm  visit our "Ultimate Bible Quiz Site"  folsom.sk.ca/k4j/BQuiz/Quiz.html  *************************************                                                                              --  To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: [email protected]