It is true that we live in a world that has a lot of bad stuff happening. There is indeed darkness in the world. We hear of many forms of violence against people that sometimes leads to the loss of a real person’s life. We hear of abuse, manipulation, and corruption in both business and government. Well, I won’t attempt an exhaustive (exhausting) list of all the dark things taking place in our world, our nation, sometimes our neighborhoods. We know it’s out there without listing it all. Most of us have even been the victim of some hurtful action from another person. If we focus on this, we may lose sight of all the good that does also exist in our world.
There is probably more light and good in this world than we can even imagine. There is definitely more than I have time to recount here. We find parents doing their part to prepare a generation of future good citizens. We see teachers in schools–and whole school systems–preparing children for their futures. We see people turning to God for guidance on how to love their neighbors. We see families working together to overcome their own challenges or to help others with theirs. We see churches and other non-profit organizations working to feed, clothe, and house the poor and unfortunate. We see mental health workers striving to improve the lives of people prone to substance abuse or addictions. We see government officials and employees working together to protect the well-being of their citizens. We see businesses taking responsibility for their impact on the environment. This list could go on a long time.
Sometimes, when people observe horrid events that sometimes happen on this earth, they suggest that God must not exist. But when they do this, there are some things they are overlooking. First, if we consider what the Bible and other Abrahamic scriptures say, we live in a fallen world, so there is a continuing battle between forces of good and forces of evil. Next, we cannot judge what God is doing or not doing when we don’t have an understanding of His goal or purpose for our life on earth. If He is seeking those who prove that they desire light, there must be a way to observe what they will choose. In this world we see some people choosing light or good. Others choose darkness or bad. And others are in between. There is a clear stratification of what people choose. Next, if He has made it our task to manage our own world with His support, then He is not likely to force us all to be good, but might instead wait for us to ask for His help to fix this or adjust that. We learn by choosing and doing, more than by being forced into obedience.
I believe that God has given us the opportunity to take the lead in building a better world. That is one reason why I am working to build Lightward Bound. God has given us many resources to make this a wonderful world, if we’ll just make use of them. We have human relationships that bring us joy. That starts with being born into a family with people who (hopefully) love and care for us. When that doesn’t happen, is it God’s fault or the fault of humans? If we neglect to pass on the good we may have received, we surely have some culpability. We have the ability to communicate very complex and meaningful thoughts that can help us build or destroy human relationships. If we choose to destroy, we are clearly at fault. We have been given holy scriptures that give much guidance on how to live our lives. If we turn up our noses at these inspired works, our pride robs us of great knowledge and wisdom and light. God is available to us through prayer, if we can just humble ourselves enough to try. Through prayer, we have access to the greatest being in the universe, our Creator, with power to cause anything good to happen if it is in line with His goals. So it is our job to learn to seek God’s help according to His rules, not our own concept of how things should be. If we don’t seek His help, we may find ourselves alone–a mere mortal human–pounding our puny fists against a massive rock wall of evil.
I have no doubt that if all of us could truly listen to our Creator and ask for Him to use His power to help us bring better things to this world, we would see dramatic changes that would cause us to praise and sing and express heartfelt gratitude.
So let’s turn another heart to God, another mind toward the light. Let’s work to bring more light into our nation and world, with the help of God’s power.