"3 primary propositions of the Christian Faith:

"1. God is all powerful.

2. God is loving.

3. Terrible things happen.

You can reconcile any two of the above propositions, but you can never reconcile all three."
Quote of Frederick Buechner I came across.


So here's my take. If forced to do so, we have to accept the first two. I can't accept that God is not all powerful. I can't accept God is not loving. Therefore either #3 is incorrect, or we have to adjust our perception of suffering (terrible things happening).

Reading Jean-Pierre de Caussade might be influencing my thoughts on this, not to mention 46 years of personal experience. From my perspective, terrible things do happen: losing our first child, my Dad dying tragically, Alzheimers killing my mother, raising a bipolar son....etc. But if I can leap high enough to get a 40,000 foot view of life....Divine Providence. Like the hip cliche I hear my teens saying, "It's all good, it's all good."

This isnt' meant to be a trite statement. It's not meant to be some pollyanna theology to make someone feel better when they hurt, including me. But there is a truth there I believe. God is all powerful. God is loving. And he knows what he's doing, far more than what I can imagine. So I accept what I consider terrible things. Not neccesarily without complaining or questioning. But in the end, I have to come back to accepting all 3 propositions. The latter by experience, and the first two by faith when I don't feel like believing them.