October 14, 2005
Earthquakes, wars, famines and floods – what are we to make of these? Just yesterday someone approached me and asked, “What do you think God is trying to tell us?” Well, to be honest these tragic events shouldn’t only make us look up, but in. When misfortune comes crashing down, too many people immediately assume God is the only one to blame. It’s as if God has nothing to do but spend all his day pushing buttons and pulling levers to teach us a lesson. Some people might imagine a vengeful God getting even by poking pins in a globe as one would do with a voodoo doll. While few people might actually think this is true, when tragedy appears at their door, they certainly feel it is.
There are some who say the world is in worse shape today than it was yesterday. They claim there is a daily decline and increasing unraveling of the moral fabric of society. Natural disasters, they say, act as celestial signs and warnings which indicate an imminent ushering in of the “end times”. Bookstores are doing a brisk business with fat paperbacks chock full of biblical references and apocalyptic predictions. Not only Evangelical but even some Catholic writers are also on the same bandwagon playing dirges as a prelude to an impending Armageddon. Others, however, think this “gloom and doom business” is the fantasy of religious fanatics. The world is moving forward nicely enough – “think positive”, they say.
I believe it would be absolutely foolish to throw oneself body and soul entirely into one camp. We should energetically defend the truth with our lives, but not our personal opinions. Debating whether the world is pushing forward as planned or heading downhill towards destruction is in the end a waste of time. Doing something, however, is different. The people who argue over whether a glass is half empty or half full often have little time, interest or energy left to fill it.
We are all well aware that good progress has been accomplished in many areas of human life. Advances in medicine, for example, cannot simply be shrugged off as “nice”. The next time you’re at the dentist, turn your chair into a time machine and go back a hundred years. Yes, that is a pair of pliers in his hands, so take another swig of whiskey and hold on tight! Mobility has also advanced far beyond the imagination of our ancestors. Trips that once took weeks and months are now accomplished in just a few hours. The next time you hop in your car or on a plane, ask yourself if you would take the trip if you had to walk or ride in a wooden wagon. In some ways, the good ‘ol days are good because we’re not living in them!
It’s agreed that technology has made life easier, safer, and much more efficient. Eating a meal by candlelight may be romantic, but not if you do it every night. Doing the wash by hand each week is fine for dinner napkins, but what about bed sheets? Yes, unless you’re Amish, few of us would want to turn the clock back. Most especially in the Western world, healthy strides have been made even in the social arena such as diminishing the ubiquitous presence of racial prejudice and religious persecution. In these areas and others, none of us would want to step back even fifty years.
Remember the song: “He’s got the whole world in His hands?” Well, maybe we need to start singing it again. Although we have not forgotten the verses, we may have forgotten what they mean. For a person of faith, it’s not a matter of being “positive” or “negative”, but rather of being hopeful and helpful. It is very wrong, especially for Christians, to fall into a certain fatalism as if we have nothing to do with this world’s direction. Whether we’re heading into a bright future or a brick wall is indeed God’s concern, but it’s also our business. We have no power over avalanches and earthquakes, but we do have power over ourselves.
Working, not worrying, will make this world a better place – beginning with our own backyards. People of faith don’t wring their hands and anxiously ask “What is God doing?”, but rather they roll up their sleeves and honestly ask, “What can I do?”
Fr. Glenn Sudano, CFR
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