For the Love of God

"God sometimes you just don't come through. Do you need a woman to take care of you?" Tori Amos

Years ago I read somewhere  "God is either omnipotent or all-loving, but He can't be both"
I had a conversation recently that included, after an explanation of a bad situation,  "God is in control."

Really?

Was God in control when Dylann Roof walked into a church prayer meeting on June 17,2015, opened fire, and killed nine people who were there to share their prayer concerns and to pray for one another? God was in control of that?

Is God in control in Syria?  What began as pro-democracy protests in March of 1011 turned quickly into a full-scale civil war.  It is estimated that over 300,000 Syrians have died in the conflict and over 12 million people have become refugees from the constant bombing. Men, women and children in Aleppo are being executed in their homes and in the street. Tens of thousands of  families have walked away from their homes with no destination and nothing but the clothes on their backs.   God is in control of that?

In the United States of America, every twenty-five minutes a baby is born addicted to drugs. Because the mother chose to use drugs during pregnancy, the baby is born with the same dependency.  The baby had absolutely no choice in the matter. Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) or withdrawal is a long and painful ordeal for the newborn. Some babies do not survive the process.   The financial cost to the health system is tens of thousands of dollars per baby. God is in control of this?

In court the man said under oath, "I was so drunk I don't know if I hit him or not." But my friend's eleven year old son who had been waiting to cross the road on his bicycle was dead at the hands of this hit and run drunk driver.  The man was convicted of vehicular homicide and driving under the influence, and  has served many years in prison. We console ourselves that he is in Heaven, but this bright and beautiful little boy has  been dead to his mother, his brother and sister for a long, long time. He was my friend too. God was in control  of that?

Just a few weeks ago a blazing inferno rushed through Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The flames were fueled by wind gusts of up to 90 mph. Fourteen people died, over 2500 homes and businesses burned to the ground and more than 17,000 pristine acres were destroyed. It is estimated the cost to rebuild will approach $500 million. Authorities have determined that the wildfires were deliberately set by two teenage boys dropping lighted matches on the parched  ground. God was in control of that?

Should we talk about child sexual abuse and physical abuse?  Should we talk about domestic violence, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and animal abuse?  God is in control of all of this?

In the beginning God created a beautiful garden, the Garden of Eden. Then he formed two  humans from dust and placed them in this garden.  He told them to feel free to eat of all the fruit thereof except for the fruit from one particular tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Given the choice of all the bounty of the garden, Adam and Eve ate the fruit from that tree.  This tendency has come to be known as "human nature." God then expelled them from the garden.  Did God set it up that way? Was His intention to tempt them to sin to make it possible to punish them?  Is that the kind of deity God is? Is "God's nature" as bad or worse than "human nature"? Or is "human nature" simply a reflection of "God's' nature"? Like Father. Like son?

What do people mean when they say "God is in control"?  They must mean it in some wishful thinking abstract sort of way, because they can't possibly mean it in any literal way. The dictionary definition of "control" is "the power to influence or direct people's behavior or the course of events."If people mean the "influence part", then maybe so. If they mean the "direct people's behavior" part, as I suspect that they do, then God has serious issues.

 Hopefully  the people who say "God is in control"  simply  mean  that "all of this is going to work out some way.  Something good is going to come of this." If that's what people mean when they say "God is in control" then it makes more sense.  If they mean "This happened the way God meant for it to happen" then he has serious theological issues.  I will never accept that everything that happens is because that's the  way God intended for it to happen. People commit horrible, unthinkable atrocities. I don't think God committed any of them. I don't think God burned down Gatlinburg for some good reason.  Can something good come of it? Absolutely. Did God Himself do it? Absolutely not.

So what is God in control of if He in control of anything?  I started this with "either God is omnipotent or He's all-loving". Whereas I can't accept the omnipotent part, I totally accept the all-loving part. When I see the kindness of people toward  total strangers who need their help, I see the love of God.   When I see how people treat children with kindness and tenderness, I  can  believe that there's a  loving God. When I see people treat both domesticated and wild animals with love and  compassion, I see God's love at work.  I see evidence of God's love through the love of people all the time.   Can God love us outside of His love through people?  Of course He can. For centuries mystics have related direct encounters with the Divine. I experienced that love for myself one morning in Ft.. Oglethorpe, Georgia.  God Himself reached through the chasm of separation and loved me.  The experience left me stunned and dumbfounded. My four year old son was with me and he knew Something profound had happened too.  I can't tell you what happened, but I can take you to the place it happened.  Although my observation is that God usually works through human hearts and hands, He isn't restricted to human love to demonstrate His own. In August of 1971 as an eighteen year old young man while leaning against a headstone in a cemetery in Owensboro, Kentucky, Something happened. That's all I can tell you about it, Something significant happened. I was wrapped in love like a blanket not of this world. During a communion service at a Pilgrim Congregationalist church in Edina, Minnesota in January of 1986, Something happened. There were twelve of us and the Celebrant. The twelve. I must have been playing the role of Thomas. I didn't doubt as much after that.

So is God omnipotent?  Absolutely  not.   Is God all-loving? Absolutely. Does God really need a woman to take care of Him? Couldn't hurt. Jesus had at least three Marys in his life, his mother, Mary the sister of Lazarus and Mary Magdalene. A most significant women in my life was my mother, Mary. Mother died on March 1, 2003 but I still sense her presence every day.  If we believe that God and Jesus are One, then God's mother is Mary. Maybe God is Mary. Who knows?

I think God had  a choice, He could have been omnipotent and we would be pawns on his chessboard,or he could give us free will, the power of choice, and He would have to watch the crown of His creation make a mess of things. And while we are doing that, for a distraction  He can sit on His back porch with his telescope and watch the birth and death of trillions of stars. Watching the live birth of supernova, quasars, and black holes must be a Divine experience. Only you can't see a black hole. God, I'm sure, has a special telescope. He can see them. God can do anything, except violate the will of people.

Is God omnipotent in Heaven, the place of eternal joy, rest and peace. The Old Testament records that Satan,an angel of God, "fell from Heaven like lightning." Apparently God didn't kick him out, but he left of his own accord. Maybe he saw an opportunity in the Garden of Eden to thwart God's perfect plan.  Looks like his scheme may have worked. And yet God's perfect plan according to the Apostle Paul is to "wrap everything up in Him, the things on the earth,  above the earth and below the earth." If "everything" is true, then even Satan himself will eventually come back home. These things will probably not "come to pass" for a very long time. Then and only then will God be both all-loving and omnipotent.   Until then we must be content with only His love. And if we accept it, His love is more than enough.

"O come to my heart Lord Jesus. There's room in my heart for Thee."