By: John Silva – March 1, 2019
Dick and Jane were twins. They were conceived and born in the usual way… unremarkable by most standards… but that soon changed. Even before they were born, the twins were punching and kicking each other and rebelling against the constraints of their mother’s womb. They fought continuously. They acted like the degenerate ruffians from across the tracks who would catch two alley cats and tie their tails together with a short piece of rope and hang them over a clothesline… the prospect of watching the two cats destroy themselves excited them. The two twins, Dick and Jane, often engaged in this form of entertainment. The only difference was they were the cats.
Their parents, Angie and Bert, made the rules and Dick and Jane broke them. As they got older, the fighting became more cruel and ruthless… they would beat each other up until their bodies were covered in blood… usually ending with a trip to the ER or the police station. How and why did this happen?
Recently married, Elizabeth and Henry were soon blessed with… wait for it…twins. The two girls Kansas and Arizona were loved by their parents and each one had their very own silver spoon.
However, as time went by, things changed as things sometimes do. Henry developed a serious case of wandering eyes leading to infidelity. And, Elizabeth also began to hunger for adventure outside her marriage. Meanwhile, Kansas set it as her personal goal to have sex with the entire high school football team at least twice as her poison. Arizona preferred the darkness of night to rendezvous with her two dubious lovers… booze and drugs.
They all knew what was going on, but no one said anything… no one cared. There were too many other interesting things going on… things that were more important. In time the bonds that once held them together deteriorated, and their once idyllic life was just a vague memory rotting in the flotsam of life. How and why did this happen?
Mary and Jim grew up on farms just down the road from each other. As far back as they could remember, they just enjoyed being with each other. As time went by, their friendship blossomed into a beautiful relationship. They married, raised a family and grew old together. Their love and respect for each other, their marriage, and their children held them all together.
Their twins, Cassie and Benton, grew up and raised their children the same way they were raised. Loving them each day like a beautiful sunrise kissing the earth. Through the good times and the bad, they were always faithful to each other. How and why did this happen?
Do you ever wonder why?
Where does it begin? How is it the worm finds its way into one apple and not the other? Where does this worm come from? Whyis it that some of us seem to be controlled by some invisible destructive force while others skate through life with only an occasional bump in the road? How and why does this happen?
Given that we all have the freedom of choice… why do some people choose to be kind and helpful and others choose to be mean and destructive? How and why does this happen?
Do you recall the movie Rebel Without a Cause? What is it that tempts us… no… compels us to see how close to the edge of the road we can get before destroying ourselves? Are we so sensitive to what others think of us that we can’t wait to destroy them or ourselves? What is it that begiles and seduces us? Are there really sirens? Homer warned us about them. How and why does this happen?
Why is it that sometimes we choose to hurt someone with our words or deeds instead of helping them? Are we so ignorant or insensitive that we don’t see the consequences of wounding a parent, child, sibling, friend or stranger? Is it because we are so determined to have our own way that no matter what the cost… we will destroy ourselves and each other and if necessary the entire planet. And, for what? Is it fear, greed, ego? What drives us to do these things? How and why does this happen?
Could it be that Satan really does exist, and his demons freely roam through our minds, waiting for an opportunity to injure or enslave us? Or, do we invite them into our lives as mentors and friends? How and why does this happen?
Worldwide access to water and arable land could be a tipping point. Countries or even continents could be pressured into starting devastating wars because there is not enough food, energy, jobs, or some other necessity. It isn’t much of a stretch to see this evolving into a global meltdown from which a recovery might not be possible. How and why does this happen?
God… what were you thinking?
If you are a loving God, why do You permit this evil to devour your children? The disaster in the “Garden” with your first children wasn’t exactly what you could call your finest moment. Are you so obtuse? Don’t you get it? Don’t you see that we can’t be trusted? Why did you create us knowing we would fail? Don’t you care, or are You asleep at the wheel? Why would You die for us and then let us destroy ourselves? Is it because we can’t see the big picture? Maybe, we just don’t understand and can’t comprehend your endgame. Can’t you tell us what’s really important, and what part we play in your ultimate plan?
As parents
We do the best we can. And, we hope and pray by word and deed we do enough for our children so they don’t make mistakes from which they cannot recover. Human nature being what it is they probably won’t make the same mistakes we made negating any effective parental advice we might offer. No… it is more likely they will opt to make mistakes of their own choosing. Wouldn’t it be so much easier if we could just make them do what we know is best for them. As parents, what are we to do?
Government to the Rescue
Is it any different in other countries? Has anyone figured out how to prevent us from destroying ourselves and each other? Or, is it pretty much the same everywhere? Would it be better for the government to make laws that would force us to only do things that were good and beautiful? And, then what? Would we have heaven on earth… or, just another 1984 dystopian society?
And, when our children hurt us or someone else, what are we to do? Should we force them to do what is right? Should we beat them or lock them up in the basement? Do we forgive them without consequences? How do we make them understand that we know is best for them? God where are you when we need you?
When we are born, and we stubbornly refuse to scream until we are slapped, are we already demanding to have our own way? Are some of us more prone than others? Is it inevitable that in the end we will all insist on having what we want with little or no room for discussion? Either by guile or threat, being human seems to mean regardless of the consequences, we will demand what we want. Is there any hope? Or, do the flaws run so deep that we are doomed? How and why did this happen?
And, when we want something and someone says no… even if we know what we want is unreasonable or not good for us, we seem to want it all the more. In his book Brave New World, Aldous Huxley writes “The apes defiling touch, the squids embrace, the leeches kiss… and do you like the human race… no, not much.” How and why does this happen?
You might ask, why am I writing this essay? This is a reasonable question. Here is the crux of the matter. We rarely blame ourselves when things go wrong, but we easily assign the blame to others? Does part of being human require us to blame others when we are not happy? So, who should we blame?
God’s Children and Those That Followed
What were Adam and Eve thinking… What were Cain and Abel thinking? Did Able intentionally offer a superior gift to God to humiliate Cain? Was he unaware of the problem his gift would create and the angst Cain would feel? Did he see it leading to his own death? Or, was he motivated by some petty sibling rivalry? We have to blame someone… don’t we? Should we blame Cain or Abel? How and why did this happen?
Maybe, it’s God’s fault. If God is all-knowing, He surely must have seen this coming. So, why would God create a paradise for Adam and Eve knowing that they and their children would screw it all up. To add insult to injury, He would have to require Himself to pay for their sins
Quite frankly, given the situation, I don’t know why people today want to have children. Don’t they know their children are going to screw up? Maybe God should decide which parents could have children and which ones couldn’t? If you were God, would you prevent the parents of Hitler, Stalin, Dahmer, and Bundy from having children? Wouldn’t you stop these evil children from ever being born? No? Really? Don’t you see how inhumane and unfair you are to those they will kill and torture? Couldn’t we have them neutered? Or, could we just get rid of sex entirely… just think no more lust, rape or human trafficking.
Questions to ask God and yourself
Why does God let His children do evil things? If you were God, would you make it optional or mandatory to keep your law? Or, would you tell your children to try and do their best and let the chips fall where they will. Would you let people blame you for what your children do? Or, would you strike them with a bolt of lighting? That way we would have constant reminders not to screw up.
If you were God, would you let good people die and terrible people live? If you were God, would you only let good things happen to good people and bad things only happen to bad people?
How about those priests that prey on innocent children? If you were God, what would you do to them? How would you prevent them from doing their heinous deeds? How would you punish them? Would you castrate them or put parasites in their brains? Would you gouge out their eyes and explode their eardrums? Should God be blamed for what people do in violation of His wishes?
God, why do you let babies die? Is it because in the end it doesn’t really matter? Sooner or later everyone is going to die? So, what’s the problem?
Did God create disease, drought, war, tsunamis, serial killers, earthquakes, avalanches, and floods to destroy His children? Or, did God create a paradise free from these plagues? Well then, if not God then who? Who is so evil to do these things?
What happened to the perfect Eden that God created for His children? Didn’t God warn Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the tree of good and evil, and didn’t He tell them what would happen if they did? So, who gets the credit for opening Pandora’s Box and destroying paradise. Who is responsible for leaving us to live in this broken world with its death and destruction? Was it the devil that makes us do it? Hmm…
What would make God cry?
As a parent, what would make you cry? If your daughter was raped and killed, would you cry? If your son chose to abuse heroin and overdosed, would you cry?
How would you feel if you sacrificed the pleasures of your life so your children could have a better life and even died for them… if after all that they chose to turn away from you and hated you? Would that make you cry? Does God cry when His children do these things?
Does God Cry With Us?
Does God care as much as we do or infinitely more? When we cry, does God cry with us? Has God abandoned us, or does it just seem that way? Or, when we fall, does He pick us up and carry us through our pain and sadness until we can manage on our own?
And, what would you do if your children cursed you and used your name to curse others? And, what would you say or do if your children said you never loved them or never did anything for them and you were evil? And, what would you do if your children said you didn’t even exist and if you did exist you were a monster and you are worse than nothing. How would you feel? Humm… WAIT, HOW WOULD I FEEL?