“My life is always in my hand, yet I do not forget your law.”

Psalm 119:109

The question of free will is constantly overlooked when traumatic events occur. God is blamed for nearly everything terrible that happens. When one of my friends lost a baby, one of the gathered looked at me and said, “Where’s your God now?” Literally. That happened. I understood that in the moment, those words were spoken out of hurt. That friend is a beautiful soul and immediately apologized; but still, the sentence was out. Just as we were created with agency (free will), so was God’s Economy (nature).

Tornados strike and kill. Cancer sucks. Aging is a terminal condition. None of these things can be stopped, cured, or reversed. Yet when they occur, those same words are repeated, “Where is your God, now?” We forget that nature also has agency in this world. No, it is not sentient. It is untamed, wild, beautiful, and unthinking. It brings joy to the good and evil, alike. It just is. Nature cannot change itself, nor can it be held accountable for its actions; blaming nature for being itself would be like blaming a fire for burning. Still, the repercussions of nature’s wrath cut deeply sometimes.

When a loved one dies.

When homes are destroyed.

When lives are changed by diagnoses.

These things cannot be changed.

But do you know which created being has sentience and the ability to choose rightly? If your answer was ‘us’, ding ding, you won. The whole point of our creation was God’s love made manifest into a creature that would have a choice and a chance to love Him and to enjoy his economy. As we know, that didn’t last long. Temptation led us away from God almost as quickly as we were made. In thousands of years, we still choose poorly, sometimes; we still choose the paths leading away from God. We choose the lesser gods of fame, power, popularity, greed, envy, lust and money to worship. We choose to hate people different than us because they hated us first, they look dissimilar, they talk funny. We. Choose.

We cannot change the nature’s will. We do have charge over our own. Our lives are in our hands—how we manage ourselves and how we behave are ultimately of our own making. Blaming God for the way we act is like blaming fire for burning (yep, again). I hope we can see the truth in the words of psalm 119 today and begin to see our own complicity in the evils of this world. Then I hope we can make better choices. We must remember God’s law in everything we do. Everything. It’s impossible to be perfect, but it is entirely doable to try. Remember the commandments, remember Jesus’ way. Remember that God is the ultimate lover of our souls and that we were made in His image. Then, try to see that image in others before making the wrong choice, small or colossal. Your life is in your hands. My life is in mine. Will these hands work toward the glory of God? Or will they manufacture destruction?

The choice is ours.

Faithfully,

Fr. Sean+