I heard two stories this past week that really had me shaking my head. They're not uncommon stories, at least regarding the end result. I've heard similar tales before, but I still do not understand how the common conclusion is drawn.
The first story was something I saw while flipping through the TV channels one night. It was the story of a young boy and his mother who were camping or perhaps lived near the woods. As I tuned in, I listened as the boy described how his mother was being mauled by a bear.
This brave kid immediately ran to his mother's aid, kicking at the animal. This, of course, caused the bear to turn its attention to the boy, and begin ripping into him.
At this point, a neighbor came running in with a big stick and attacked the bear. Once again, the animal turned its attention to the new threat. The neighbor was killed. Then, apparently, the bear ran off, having nothing but immobile bodies surrounding it, which posed no threat.
The boy crawled over to his mother in time to hear her tell him to take care of the family, then she died.
Obviously, the boy survived.
The second story was heard on the radio. Religious right leader James Dobson, co-founder of Focus on the Family, was interviewing members of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Each had a horrible story to relate, regarding the killings of family members by drunk drivers. He was asking them how they got the news of the deaths.
One woman tearfully told the story of how her ten year old daughter was in a school bus full of church kids when it was plowed into by a drunk driver (who of course, was not killed). The fuel tank ignited and her daughter was one of many who literally burned to death.
At the time, the woman was at the hospital, visiting her sick mother. Her husband called and asked where their daughter's dental records were. It was at that moment that she knew something unimaginable had happened.
Tragic stories, both of them. You might guess where I'm going with this, what I find so mind-boggling about them.
The boy whose mother and neighbor were mauled to death, who himself came close to death, said that he felt God had saved him for a reason.
The woman whose daughter was so tragically killed says that she found God that day.
I don't understand this. I never have. Even when I was a boy, I could never fathom this backward reasoning. Even as a child, I would have said, "But if God spared that boy, why did he want to kill his mother and neighbor?" I would have said, "God just burned your little girl to death! Why do you turn to him?"
Ah, but the responses to those questions would always be, "The Lord works in mysterious ways."
No. The human mind works in mysterious ways.
The boy who survived this violent experience has to wonder why he survived when two adults did not. That kind of luck just seems too incredible. Why should he survive? He should be dead right there with the others. And there's a bit of guilt. The neighbor died in saving his life. To think that there is some "reason" for his survival is quite possibly a natural way for his mind to deal with the overwhelming reality of it.
The woman whose daughter was killed was overwhelmed with despair. Such an unexpected tragedy could not be prepared for. It was too much for her to deal with. And in her grief, she needed something to lean on, a crutch. The crutch of faith. God would help her through it. Never mind that God had caused it to happen in the first place. That's not the point. God would help her get over it, and she'd thank God for the ten years she had with her daughter, and not blame God for stealing several more decades from their time together.
This, like so many areas of religious belief, makes no sense to me. I feel sorrow for these peoples' losses. And I feel pity that they need to turn to rationalize reality in order to survive.
