The Problem of Good

Our thought for the day from Richard Rohr’s book Immortal Diamond is…                      

We are not so at home with the resurrected form of things despite a yearly springtime, healings in our bodies, the ten thousand forms of newness in every event and in every life.  The death side of things grabs our attention and fascinates us as fear and negativity always do, I am so sad to say. We have to be taught how to look for anything infinite, positive or good, which for some reason is much more difficult. We have spent centuries of philosophy trying to solve “the problem of evil,” yet I believe the much more confounding and astounding issue is “the problem of good.” How do we account for so much gratuitous and sheer goodness in this world?

After a winter of severely cold temperatures and record snowfalls in many parts of the country, we are on the cusp of spring…on the cusp of nature’s resurrection. Thank God! This is also the season in which the Church triumphantly engages in the celebration of Easter—the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Yes, the “death side of things grabs us,” but like winter, it can’t hold on forever—even if it feels this way sometimes. Resurrection—in all its various forms—lies at the heart of all Life. And, fortunately for each of us, the problem of good remains in force, whether we comprehend it or not.