JANUARY 17 — I don’t know whether to be amused or angry, to laugh or to cry. Human nature is so self-contradictory at times. We live as if there’s no God, in fact many profess not to believe in a divine being, yet at almost every turn we blame this purportedly non-existent divine being for a lot of things in life.
Take floods or earthquakes as a simple example. Insurance policies exclude liability that arises or is consequent upon such catastrophic occurrences. They call it “acts of God”. What has God to do with it, when clever science can tell us precisely how such things happen? In fact we have become so smart we have invented tools to predict when these things will happen. Of course, we conveniently forget it’s humans who actually have a hand in contributing to such incidents by our flagrant disregard for the environment we live in. Whether it’s stuck drains or rivers dumped with tonnes of rubbish (originated from humans), or deforestation or gases we pump into the atmosphere, we are blithely oblivious of the truth that we reap what we sow. Instead we attribute it all to that fella called god who’s wrecking vengeance on poor earthlings for daring to ignore him. Yet in the same breath, we have people who say that those very floods and earthquakes prove there is no God, otherwise he should/would have prevented them from happening. Geez, we can’t seem to make up our mind which is what.
There are many who even think it’s God’s fault that people kill people, all in the name of religion. Really? That’s some convoluted thinking. So if everybody became atheist, nobody would kill anybody. Seriously? Wars have broken out over much much lesser things than God. Check out that guy impatiently honking at a slow driver in the fast lane — he’s got murder on his mind, even if he hasn’t actuated the deed. Let’s not even get into all that stuff about violence, hatred and crimes. All I can see is it isn’t God’s finger that pushes the buttons on bomb-rigged vests and whatever the reason, the hands that beat up a wife or throws away an unwanted new-born baby are a human’s hands, not God’s.
And whilst we are on a roll, I am very sure the God of my bible would never condone any cheating, corruption or financial mismanagement of any man-created institution, no matter that it lays claim to being religious. In fact Jesus reserved His harshest words for the religious leaders of His day, pointing out their hypocrisy and erroneous assumptions that merely following the rules of religion would justify them as righteous saints. He called them ”whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean”. My, that’s rich... and He got so angry at God’s house of prayer being turned into a market-place He overturned tables and threw people out. Which just goes to show God isn’t into “religiousness”.
No, it isn’t religion that covers over a multitude of wrongs, as someone puts it sweepingly. Let’s be honest with ourselves and own up to our sin and not confuse religion with God. Interestingly beyond the normally accepted definition of religion as a belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, Google also defines religion as a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance. In that sense everyone has a religion — all of us “worship” someone/something. I dare say even an atheist has a religion — he is his own god.
It strikes me as odd that as much and as often as we blame God for all sorts of bad things happening in this world, we never “blame” Him for the good things... How often do we “credit” God with the infinite beauty of the world all around us (ie if we care to look beyond the ugliness that we caused)? Do we ever think of God when we watch the sun rise or notice a flower bloom? Of course not, that’s nature... it just happens. Like humans just happen... to come out from a monkey, and the monkey just happens to come out... from a fish... or whatever our puny little minds think happened.
We never question how come we can wake up the next morning still breathing. Or how we still have a job to work at. Or that we are able to do the 1001 things we think of doing (and some things impossible to do even). Nope, the good stuff is all our doing, never God’s. After all, it’s our brains, our bodies, our efforts, our hard work that get us a life.
We seem to forget all too easily our life is really not our own; in fact we could just drop dead at any moment — of sickness, accidents, and oh yes, don’t forget the bombs. My patience has been sorely tried these days, as I keep receiving well-intentioned messages over social media about which places to avoid in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Jakarta. If I were to heed them, I would have to give up shopping for much-needed groceries at this, that or the other mall. I would have to cease my usual Saturday activity of feeding the homeless since it’s right slap in the very heart of Petaling Street, which is an obvious target for racists and/or terrorists attacks. Forget about going into KL city centre at all, since it’s a “very hot” spot. Perhaps I should “jump state” — Penang? Too touristy, maybe Trengganu or Kelantan. Or maybe just emigrate... avoid Europe — too many refugees, Australia is a better bet — that’s everyone’s fave. Actually, I think I might as well never venture outside my house.
We don’t need some intelligence report to tell us a terrorist attack is “a real and tangible menace” in our country. I salute the authorities for already doing their job — they are on red alert, which they should be. Still, they are but human; they can’t be everywhere, they can’t guarantee absolute safety. They can do their best, and that’s all that can be reasonably expected.
So in the meantime, what are we ordinary mortals expected to do? Stop frequenting crowded places? Right, common sense. So tell me, for how long can we hide in the “security” of our brick houses — what about the thieves and the robbers — where do we hide from them? Heck, come to think of it, I could die from a simple fall in the bathroom of my own home. Do we not realise the plain truth (unpalatable as it is) is no one is safe from death — anywhere? When our “time” is up, it’s up, despite all the preventive steps we take to “not die”. And if it’s not yet our “time”, nothing can kill us. Yes, we should be careful, but why do we need to be get all paranoid and obsessed with “taking care” of our lives?
Perhaps the real issue isn’t about terrorists, but about death. If we can’t come to terms with that, we will always be fearful of the “what if’s” that can happen to us. So what if... I die today... of a heart attack, in a road accident, blown apart by a bomb? So what? I know my God holds me in the very palm of His hands. I know the moment I cease to breathe here, I go back to my Maker who loves me, who has already prepared for me an even better experience called eternity. Knowing all that, I am free and freed to live... without fear of anyone, any power or anything that threatens my life on earth.
Now, where is my shopping list? I need to go to the mall.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:6-7
* This is the personal opinion of the writer and does necessarily reflect the views of Malay Mail Online.
