%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R 18 0 R ] /Count 2 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R /F5 13 0 R >> /XObject << /I1 14 0 R /I2 15 0 R /I3 22 0 R /I4 23 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 16 0 R /GS2 17 0 R /GS3 20 0 R /GS4 21 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text /ImageC ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 1.0.2 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20241222113950+00'00') /ModDate (D:20241222113950+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 2566 >> stream xX˲߯eRECxFeَ"GtHe13 p)zStP8JIJ =xH4M_x(/:)xlŋߗ"$xo>'ڶY<<>AI YT*u3>_%LE*OU s_?dIusSvעN,|P4N=2+ʦ( 1>TdK|ߛF=VӺp(`n.}YXW02rc*q˛Q0vM+l=KS,),D&$㨽('ϺߴGZc3IV^/M sN|+O+^&5@D"WQLB"7⨇A{;jJ%Eͽ7F {jJ&z;8?I7VHrIwAFuQi#F'q#^.DnALGVkWm&+^Zvގjٓ)(䅣JmY;({36(*~LEm &ӍoBCRt 2ݬMlyq7jGf R8lg8԰O=shÆbA@~<(Ԓv ^%KѩCFB 2TZ4N{rk97ж޹CrDM6$\sjPjUEFVEvCIQ-],Yg'&PWF8vm"D|{(C:;^ut- 4ǩQ$Smm [5~c&0{ϣӊ!CVxyd^XZ QW;G,1Y t*h\FEQsє%˘5i.Td4TM@T@B0 p @b} Yہ #B10-ĤH}FHԜEF9I2z0#d3aujGgih,zHE>8x|H`dؓ`vA\Z>CY&e!/ghȋ#YD1AQe(D^=(6Snvq/fmȑwa ~)(C Ry@al2p_u9^u1`qZU3;2fT˫f fa^^֑`DkR mYK. o7 9k0u=` zKl6ĆZa(95[ SdMBHbiUUR#_ Iv 4Jj:x„;X,ґ(zxX\"ޑ +,ݝ(H,6,EY'ML f`$ _vSl=8-'E:x]Xn" }hl.ͤG6,̆X-~?ěIGR TC߰ \˼|)>\oCG, Il#r#M3=gJƙh}OC*o~(qsJYD$@ m :46@)f#p45t絙nkc,g}Q7OoQpE0N7*> 'O]'<φ '6 ,oUx\<*tWÁBL[Kմ(%ݒ蹑$ROlHY% e18_c9U$+"bɡr5XDFBN.703VG˃sĸR[N\7TmRBV'?fGyI*>mhFF%eWHUO{xǜd]EdUh"b8PNr/c 0aQsB&yӟSt(bT3|Ջki7bBE(&)b,AzPQ1'.ŗ#~r\gEĿ==DcQ笯5]wlXpNs|:սR8|4O4[lt bC<KcOHF %E h 7GfO.A|NX"5lQ0+ WAq%x\d*Y:P+~jn@:l +; 5ユ w&4koBip?c ˚D8ykBFjk*?"U Ǝi7A8՚LwN;h2Yfe{DG]Չ#R]1hg'폧34G?^8F,-LnAqhy-y ,)^_I2p?/:Owś\|m~d8&ꂡ,Mst{aW˟QunElKzKC"~nZ|.-xڌ/^gNo꼝%E~ b#לL endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 13 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F5 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 550 /Height 140 /Filter /FlateDecode /DecodeParms << /Predictor 15 /Colors 1 /Columns 550 /BitsPerComponent 8>> /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 5329>> stream xqDǯ뺒$ILfff&I335Lf2\3I2L&_3$3I$d+$\W=9y9lLss99P`0 `0 `0 `0 !U_:~u = F~sZŻدns⃪Qg¢G(F[-s͓^ DZ>d>3Dr#\OΉ, ZFwjux<;4Ƀxز#_v?nO<|{7c(b{Oū}w[N e~Hs䎷wwOn<1B.k+%U=eԘ -mCj)t:}c'ϓ*n"-ovkZ?R"V%wʶ7s]eX&eǕq` 1-2e JYHCFOUam 7:(Ԙt_@ހN t{B~ :V@}o#7!z^&zFL:ʤn X<- %"bNWqF c` M'4?cH-V`ǵAF>=#Ěm75dB I&7E5<>-͏їFǿl3M6x]Y&)2 FoΌ N.<t i4wL\^=_|Fo؏IȄ ik$ɄL?{?|tmCޮ=~T&iTevϷ'奔s?EꋄLPY͹箵?@L:Aˤ3y_:9AtA*0qVe- e6g)%a}.qKcI V/xʤzM|\ HSql0;*%+Mذ-闛obebu2iU&lLbtIcxb5^B#8 ޮaʻ _ w>j+L:$"&O;bZ K1 jmU玫ݢ=S/J<WO2'_yUPvp=`"aL5 Nl7"rlQT޼==-I[Se* F'(\`󴯉'{:נnVZ TG6*r$Tyx^LJū.C<3` %ANrxUo"˄ 0&$tO F&bIcW3GG͈ y!{m,LkCI d,(2"@ dR%F1thUL8Rݒ^+v9^?sʯYעDl~Qd" N2sc|ov}=F,3K#vxIvG^,[OM&wI[#,Jޙ\ض;L^fv[LbyYvM#/EI#/Zס$(ڼ ," &LK/IF i-Zx彰픢]MKeR n(PhV'LҸ\f$w/ e]"mɷWO߻˱ KerSPe (ӼGMȈ}X?ʍto7ZKl+81_Y&ǡd uʤ1Vw!sQ"/$zNkw(t)2BWQW"˄OXLp:e‡# וzn2F}qlc5ؾ:WH xLz LP:d# Q>(MRېd2Qt$o~R$YR5,-nޜLr_βehd" 2k1lvO X= eC p+[R=jU!֖}_DޟY2 (*wkZQ>Fl̲soR#^u3hhyTԲt.LtD8sk4z4Rbl@zp4hy0Tn\=.fnő Y/:TC9<@fSI$:QR/bq7DfR/ֻn)Vqd"䳽˄GL;ϝRG顼n&%Sv eFv,L"t}I&N> D73]$e)( ;]XhL`kSzJlcC$<)깍h}dr,1ܝRM뭍eMa $?e3f8΍҈&P(x+JU5{I 3 M- ;7|#G9 !\œ&=xp2,L{-`?OW":4uܚEadv ~9q.VdV%UT@73$@W¯B!ݒaVLH:!opr;gAɀiήpfߙR E/IDO*Luf0}{7mfyDxT.g)w5RvHx#Z]&M$ gZUTt+lZqZ_;a&JaG,-JLJDFIcV|:I3nB&;N0Lna=Y_Gl,p5,,kc EKgd;2vt7selT9˸sX޲.6r<1!| L0lTMS1?Xsf cq )KSgBB&׭x. v c@^Yk΀v],E[ɾ QhYyXXC2)g/J@su1ScL, ?C[{V2i͛!סӠ&> 6lu>4Ƕʤ|=12鱧l{^:a/Y%~].26G: p^CZ V&Vedҟ?RrX7d#I]ՕuL1 ?_ /12IEh ̴b<ӯ^e _ϝ䰻^]vy> /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 873>> stream x1j08-K/)],) &gi+:U̲\"9H!@"9H!@"9H!@eY.Z[p_E{QHKV[/`j%ʒcP,SX4W{7urd5ɱPr:-ֆʇX$$zfZpClbw7z{[]qGlwlGlZiM,ߺ7x}w` L9=3zpWL9 j)ۓB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$e]k` B$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$/؋ endstream endobj 16 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj 18 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 19 0 R >> endobj 19 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 793 >> stream xUMs0+v& nfڦ)NYl[" qv,㽧'iz'}&_3( O[NnV0Kßy$Eaw s!a֬R|3=ZPM.+/EvC@o֞g5> S_ **c+Y!G5m u6j&S >OQDR31[iKh #TF#c@` W+j]:( xTE5P-AA-.VTS_ Ka0 (veH9l Ćz`61 h5%K'=g#Q%U*}Yd&rp-L |5e<=8}hQysBYҸU[kƖt D0 Sq<|Qw"U!y|yQ.4=%":bSy_ endstream endobj 20 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 1 >> endobj 21 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 1 >> endobj 22 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 550 /Height 140 /Filter /FlateDecode /DecodeParms << /Predictor 15 /Colors 1 /Columns 550 /BitsPerComponent 8>> /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 5329>> stream xqDǯ뺒$ILfff&I335Lf2\3I2L&_3$3I$d+$\W=9y9lLss99P`0 `0 `0 `0 !U_:~u = F~sZŻدns⃪Qg¢G(F[-s͓^ DZ>d>3Dr#\OΉ, ZFwjux<;4Ƀxز#_v?nO<|{7c(b{Oū}w[N e~Hs䎷wwOn<1B.k+%U=eԘ -mCj)t:}c'ϓ*n"-ovkZ?R"V%wʶ7s]eX&eǕq` 1-2e JYHCFOUam 7:(Ԙt_@ހN t{B~ :V@}o#7!z^&zFL:ʤn X<- %"bNWqF c` M'4?cH-V`ǵAF>=#Ěm75dB I&7E5<>-͏їFǿl3M6x]Y&)2 FoΌ N.<t i4wL\^=_|Fo؏IȄ ik$ɄL?{?|tmCޮ=~T&iTevϷ'奔s?EꋄLPY͹箵?@L:Aˤ3y_:9AtA*0qVe- e6g)%a}.qKcI V/xʤzM|\ HSql0;*%+Mذ-闛obebu2iU&lLbtIcxb5^B#8 ޮaʻ _ w>j+L:$"&O;bZ K1 jmU玫ݢ=S/J<WO2'_yUPvp=`"aL5 Nl7"rlQT޼==-I[Se* F'(\`󴯉'{:נnVZ TG6*r$Tyx^LJū.C<3` %ANrxUo"˄ 0&$tO F&bIcW3GG͈ y!{m,LkCI d,(2"@ dR%F1thUL8Rݒ^+v9^?sʯYעDl~Qd" N2sc|ov}=F,3K#vxIvG^,[OM&wI[#,Jޙ\ض;L^fv[LbyYvM#/EI#/Zס$(ڼ ," &LK/IF i-Zx彰픢]MKeR n(PhV'LҸ\f$w/ e]"mɷWO߻˱ KerSPe (ӼGMȈ}X?ʍto7ZKl+81_Y&ǡd uʤ1Vw!sQ"/$zNkw(t)2BWQW"˄OXLp:e‡# וzn2F}qlc5ؾ:WH xLz LP:d# Q>(MRېd2Qt$o~R$YR5,-nޜLr_βehd" 2k1lvO X= eC p+[R=jU!֖}_DޟY2 (*wkZQ>Fl̲soR#^u3hhyTԲt.LtD8sk4z4Rbl@zp4hy0Tn\=.fnő Y/:TC9<@fSI$:QR/bq7DfR/ֻn)Vqd"䳽˄GL;ϝRG顼n&%Sv eFv,L"t}I&N> D73]$e)( ;]XhL`kSzJlcC$<)깍h}dr,1ܝRM뭍eMa $?e3f8΍҈&P(x+JU5{I 3 M- ;7|#G9 !\œ&=xp2,L{-`?OW":4uܚEadv ~9q.VdV%UT@73$@W¯B!ݒaVLH:!opr;gAɀiήpfߙR E/IDO*Luf0}{7mfyDxT.g)w5RvHx#Z]&M$ gZUTt+lZqZ_;a&JaG,-JLJDFIcV|:I3nB&;N0Lna=Y_Gl,p5,,kc EKgd;2vt7selT9˸sX޲.6r<1!| L0lTMS1?Xsf cq )KSgBB&׭x. v c@^Yk΀v],E[ɾ QhYyXXC2)g/J@su1ScL, ?C[{V2i͛!סӠ&> 6lu>4Ƕʤ|=12鱧l{^:a/Y%~].26G: p^CZ V&Vedҟ?RrX7d#I]ՕuL1 ?_ /12IEh ̴b<ӯ^e _ϝ䰻^]vy> /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 873>> stream x1j08-K/)],) &gi+:U̲\"9H!@"9H!@"9H!@eY.Z[p_E{QHKV[/`j%ʒcP,SX4W{7urd5ɱPr:-ֆʇX$$zfZpClbw7z{[]qGlwlGlZiM,ߺ7x}w` L9=3zpWL9 j)ۓB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$e]k` B$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$/؋ endstream endobj xref 0 24 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000450 00000 n 0000000487 00000 n 0000000636 00000 n 0000000739 00000 n 0000003378 00000 n 0000003487 00000 n 0000003594 00000 n 0000003703 00000 n 0000003816 00000 n 0000003845 00000 n 0000003955 00000 n 0000009530 00000 n 0000010661 00000 n 0000010720 00000 n 0000010779 00000 n 0000010884 00000 n 0000011750 00000 n 0000011807 00000 n 0000011864 00000 n 0000017439 00000 n trailer << /Size 24 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[<1efeed48d272238505235ee7557eac7a><1efeed48d272238505235ee7557eac7a>] >> startxref 18570 %%EOF Why God...Why? | Caring Magazine

Vol. #28

Grace Uncovered

Read Issue

Latest Impact StoriesView All

Popular Topics

PopularView All

Why God…Why?

September 19, 2001
4 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Listen to this article

by Commissioner David EdwardsTuesday, September 11, 2001 is a day that you and I will never forget.

In less than one hour, what started as a fairly normal and peaceful day in most parts of the world was turned into chaos and became something of a nightmare for right thinking people living on this planet.

America and the world watched in horror as two of the nation’s tallest buildings crumbled to the ground in a shower of dust and steel, killing thousands of people in the wake of their collapse. A few hundred miles away, a plane crashed into the oddly shaped building, known as the Pentagon, killing just under two hundred. And still, just a few hundred miles further, yet another plane hurtled to the ground, killing everyone on board.

The scenes from this horrific incident will remain embedded on the collective memories of all of us who saw the senseless destruction and callous disregard for human life.

Nowhere to hide from the mad men?

What made these scenes frighteningly disturbing is that they resulted from the violent behavior of terrorists–mad men acting in the name of some cause about which they felt so strongly that they were prepared to die for that cause and destroy others along with themselves.

Even more stunning than the sight of these buildings crumbling and burying people in the rubble was the very thought that this could happen right here in America. Where else can people go to feel safe and secure?

Grief, Anger and Outrage

There is no doubt that in addition to the grief that this nation now feels there is widespread anger and outrage. We can all share the feelings of grief felt by those who have lost relatives, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, and dear friends in this terrible disaster. Most of all, I can identify with the anger and outrage. But in the face of such despicable actions, what is the more appropriate response?

Whenever disasters of this nature strike, people have a hard time understanding “Why?” — If there is a God, why did he let something like this happen? Why did he not intervene to prevent it from happening?

Why doesn’t God intervene?

We expect God to act with power. We expect him to intervene on behalf of the powerless and the innocent, to punish the wicked, to mete out justice to those who act unjustly, to be the defender of the weak and the helpless. We don’t only want him to be powerful and mighty but we want him to care about the things that we care about and to be concerned for the people for whom we are concerned. When he doesn’t act as people expect, we are disappointed and we wonder about his power or about the extent of his concern.

The full and final revelation of God seen in Christ Jesus

But there is another side of God that he has revealed to us. It is one of a God who although all powerful knows what it means to be touched with the infirmities of those whom he has made. In order to do that he became flesh and entered into the human experience. It is in Christ the son, that God became one with us.

Beyond any shadow of doubt, God reveals himself in Christ Jesus. He demonstrated his power over disease, demons and death. He spoke and the winds obeyed his command.

But we also see him standing outside the tomb of Lazarus shaking with uncontrollable weeping. We see him standing on the Mount of Olives weeping over the city of Jerusalem. And we hear him, while hanging on the cross, with nails piercing his feet and hands, crying out through tears of anguish “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” By his example, Christ our Lord shows us that God cares. That like us God knows what it means to feel pain. More than anyone else he understands human suffering.

Powerful and Caring

God has the power all right. He reserves the right to intervene–or not to–when he chooses, to protect the weak from the unjust, to defend the innocent and save us all from evil.

I must be honest, and say I still want God to intervene when things go wrong; to teach the wicked a lesson. I still want God to act with raw power on those occasions when I feel a show of force is needed to get the attention of the wicked. Hey! I am only human.

But you know something? It helps to know that this God, who is all-powerful, is willing to share my pain when I am deeply hurt. He is willing to weep when I am overwhelmed with sorrow. And I can feel his arms around me comforting me in times of my deepest distress.

It is good to know that at times like these there are those who can reach out in comfort to those who are hurting deeply. They may not be able to answer your questions but they are there to let you know that God shares our pain.

Download this page as a PDF

You May Also Like