God and Haiti

I’m looking at the devastation in Haiti and thinking about that old question – why do such terrible things happen in this world? How is it that some of us are lucky enough to be born in a country like the United States of America, and others are born in places like Haiti, Somalia, Sudan? Sometimes there’s a rational answer that seems to fit–the fact that since the first days we’ve been given free will and the responsibility to make our choices and take the consequences. And that makes sense even when the consequences are remote, distanced from the choice. A personal choice often impacts other people, and can turn into something bigger and bigger and bigger, like a snowball rolling down the hill. I can understand that.

But natural disasters don’t evolve from choices. Yes, some of us, not all, can choose where we live, but that’s a limited exception. When you see the pictures of those poor helpless people after the earthquake in Haiti, or some other massive horror, the logic seems to break down. I have faith that these cruelties are not caused by God. But there must be another answer to the question and we’re just not getting it – not hearing it. Or not learning something that we need to know.

How can there be so much joy and sadness in the world at the same time?