The Problem of Evil

August 3, 2003

Ideas About The Physical World

  1. Our senses tell us the world is good, that it is to be enjoyed and that since we only go around once we should enjoy all God gave us to do and be.

  2. Everything must serve the purpose that we give it or we will be unhappy, e.g., mates should make us happy, jobs should be fulfilling, people should meet our expectations, etc.

  3. The world is a hostile, unstable, environment filled with users, manipulators, hostile takeovers, suicide bombers and ruthless profiteers.

  4. The world is a matrix filled with cyclical themes that have manifested throughout recorded history.  The characters change but the script is essentially the same.  The author of Ecclesiastes speaks of a time for everything under the sun. (3:1-13).  The themes will mutate as humanity grows and evolves in its awareness.  Each of us is given the opportunity to access our higher self.

  5. The world provides the environment where we can become multi-sensory beings, beings capable of using skills beyond our five senses, e.g., creativity, intuition, motivational stimuli being a self-starter, etc.

  6. The world is a setting where we can practice being the creators that we are.  Every thought creates a result in our attitudes and behavior. God has given us this setting to practice our skills.  Skills are polished by the abrasives of human experience - abrasives that demand of us patience, trust, forgiveness, kindness, caring and courage. However, to understand reality in this fashion, many must first fail repeatedly by trial and error because they have not accessed or found interest in spirituality and the vast power such a quest would give them.

  7. The world provides a forum where experienced teachers incarnate and provide light in darkness, or understanding amid ignorance.  They sow their seeds among the countless souls who walk aimlessly trying to find meaning in what constantly changes.  They are not awake to the grandeur of their inheritance as daughters and sons of God.

  8. The world is magnificent, filled with nuances of beauty that can only be detected by spirits who have fully awakened.  Fear is gone for them and they have learned how to project only loving energy in thought, word and deed.  They resonate with God and succeed in making God visible.  They frequently bury their truth in tales, fables and parables, e.g., Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Wizard of Oz, Cinderella.


The Process Of Spiritual Growth Or Delay Has Many Plateaus

  1. The rapist who never gets caught.

  2. The pastor who spreads a gospel that is narrow, exclusive, judgmental and void of Session 5 - 2 compassion.

  3. The lottery winner who indulges an endless wish list of countless appetites.

  4. The advertising executive who has learned ways to manipulate the public's hunger for things, sensations and adventures.

  5. The genius who creates computer or biological viruses.

  6. The author who passes off the intellectual property of others as her own.

  7. The judge who can be bought.

  8. The highly skilled and "successful" shoplifter.

  9. The coward who allows himself to be viewed as a hero when the "facts" are not known.

  10. The liar who accuses the innocent, a deception that often produces grave consequences.


There Are Many Mistaken Perceptions

  1. Often when desire becomes our emotional driver, we take, instead of developing the skills that would enable us to receive everything we need.

  2. We desire what brings us pleasure and we shun that which produces hurt, pain and conflict, the very sensations that pinpoint areas within us that would produce our greatest growth.

  3. Many believe that killing, stealing and destroying actually create something.  What such activities display is the evolutionary level of the perpetrator’s thinking and nothing more.  Infinite beings can never be hurt or destroyed. What can be destroyed are our solid forms; what is essential cannot be touched. Regardless of our faith or belief system, we are what we are and nothing will change that until we learn to choose again, i.e., to reflect loving energy - - the essence of our Creator.  This is the way, the truth and the light that Jesus taught.

  4. All of us reveal our authentic beliefs through our behavior.  Frequently our measure of success is found in our external, visible symbols.  The paradox is that we can have it all and still experience emptiness, loneliness and lives lacking in purpose and meaning.  We work harder, run faster, build bigger mansions, take more medication, consume more alcohol and have more affairs without realizing what such behavior symbolizes.  What we want, and truly need, can never be found in the world.  Happiness, joy and peace are by-products of who we have become.  Such qualities of spirit need nothing the world offers in order to make their presence visible in our physical forms.