Daily Meditation: Friday, December 16, 2016

Suffering - in what sense it can be said to come from God

12/16/2016

Most religions teach that our suffering comes from God: God sends trials to the just because he loves them, and God pursues the wicked to punish them for their faults and compel them to return to the right path. Is this the truth? There are immutable laws that rule the universe that God created, and its workings. Since human beings are part of the universe, if they transgress these laws, they come up against the cosmic powers and experience some knocks. So in a sense you could say that God punishes them. And if they keep on trying to improve their understanding and respect for the laws, the difficulties they necessarily encounter also cause them suffering, but this suffering, which is a natural part of the evolutionary path, contributes to their development. And so we can also say that God makes the just suffer; he makes them suffer out of love because he wants them to grow, to blossom. This love also is part of cosmic law.