In fierce anger he has cut off every horn of Israel. He has withdrawn His right hand at the approach of the enemy. He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire that consumes everything around it. Like an enemy He has strung His bow; His right hand is ready. Like a foe He has slain all who were pleasing to the eye; He has pourd out His wrath like fire on teh tent of the Daughter of Zion. The Lord is like an enemy; He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds. He has multipied mourning and lamentation for the Daughter of Judah. (Lamentations 2:3-5)
"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" (Jesus recorded in Matthew 26)
"I used to think we lived in a world of gray and that there was no black and white [or evil], but after September 11 I question the existence of evil."
Thoughts: The God-forsaken feeling is the worst feeling ever. The Lamenter speaks of God becoming our enemy. When God who made us and befriends us becomes like an enemy it is the worst possible problem. The quotes above speak of God as an enemy on September 11. The feeling of the Lamenter has become real to them. Evil, however, is not defined by our feelings that go back and forth. Rather evil is defined by the absence of good. In that sense, evil is dependent- even parasitic- on the good. C.S. Lewis defined hell as the absence of God. Our God forsakenness here is the mini-experience of hell- it is the experience of evil.
"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" (Jesus recorded in Matthew 26)
QUOTES FROM THOSE WHO WENT THROUGH 9-11 IN NEW YORK CITY
"I think God could have ended this all. I'm losing respect for Him. I don't have any love for God- the weeks that followed September 11. It is too barbaric...I look at Him now as a barbarian." (security guard at the Twin Towers).
"It is harder for me as an atheist, for it shook the last belief I had...there is nowhere to turn."
"God could not be counted on the way I used to count on Him." (Episcopalian priest)
"If God's ways are mysterious, live with the mystery." (Jewish Rabbi).
"Today our nation saw evil- the very worst of human nature... The attacks have united our country, rallied a nation." (President George w. Bush).
"I used to think we lived in a world of gray and that there was no black and white [or evil], but after September 11 I question the existence of evil."
Thoughts: The God-forsaken feeling is the worst feeling ever. The Lamenter speaks of God becoming our enemy. When God who made us and befriends us becomes like an enemy it is the worst possible problem. The quotes above speak of God as an enemy on September 11. The feeling of the Lamenter has become real to them. Evil, however, is not defined by our feelings that go back and forth. Rather evil is defined by the absence of good. In that sense, evil is dependent- even parasitic- on the good. C.S. Lewis defined hell as the absence of God. Our God forsakenness here is the mini-experience of hell- it is the experience of evil.
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