{"id":1247,"date":"2013-12-15T14:14:19","date_gmt":"2013-12-15T19:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1247"},"modified":"2013-12-15T14:14:19","modified_gmt":"2013-12-15T19:14:19","slug":"poem-answer-problem-evil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/15\/poem-answer-problem-evil\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: An Answer to the Problem of Evil"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\">An Answer to the Problem of Evil<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\">One morning God woke up<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">Before there was such a thing as morning<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">God was well pleased with God&#8217;s self<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">&#8220;I know that I am all that!&#8221;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">In fact, the only thing better<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">Than knowing I&#8217;m all that<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">Is to not know I&#8217;m all that and then find out I&#8217;m all that!<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">So God got lost<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">And it&#8217;s been mourning since<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">Good morning<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The epic title of this poem is somewhat ambitious, since this poem, no matter how optimistic or hopeful, obviously doesn&#8217;t bring an end to the problem of evil.\u00a0 Of course, the title begs some humility in suggesting &#8220;an&#8221; answer, not &#8220;the&#8221; answer.\u00a0 What I hope this title and poem offer is a positive perspective on the intractable <a href=\"http:\/\/plato.stanford.edu\/entries\/evil\/\" target=\"_blank\">problem of evil<\/a>.\u00a0 This poem addresses one of the deepest and thorniest philosophical and theological issues that exists: how can evil exist alongside a powerful, loving God?\u00a0 Nonetheless, my hope is that this poem&#8217;s playful tone elucidates something about the nature of God in the face of such a mournful human problem.<\/p>\n<p>My understanding of salvation is deeply rooted in a transcendent perspective which ever moves me toward that which is larger, more all-encompassing, and more whole &#8212; some would call this spiritual perspective as seeking a higher power or God.\u00a0 I see this process of salvation or enlightenment as a continual trading up to something better.\u00a0 In the process of trading up, one must give up the current or old to make room for the new and better.\u00a0 This is a mournful process.\u00a0 Losing things of value is difficult\u00a0 This is especially true when things of value are taken away from us without any choice on our part.\u00a0 These events and processes of loss seem to capture our attention quite effectively.\u00a0 Somewhat ironically, the process of gaining things of value, especially when due to no choice or action of our own, generally receives little complaint, and often scant attention.\u00a0 Exhibit A: the gift of life, your very existence.\u00a0 Unearned gains, the stuff of grace, is the companion of the problem of evil: the problem of good.\u00a0 Of course, few people demand a solution to the problem of good, not seeing a need to address it as a problem.\u00a0 Still the philosophical and theological issues are exactly parallel.\u00a0 To be fair and balanced, these issues should be addressed as the problem of good\/evil.\u00a0 No doubt, some have aspired to amorality as a deeply ironic and banal way of &#8220;transcending&#8221; such a problem.\u00a0 If we can&#8217;t do any better than this, then we certainly can&#8217;t do any worse!\u00a0 Such a desperate, nihilistic approach seems to me like destroying the question to avoid having to answer the question.\u00a0 But back to the question at hand!\u00a0 The process of mourning loss (and celebrating gain) are inextricably linked.\u00a0 My definition of sacrifice is this: giving up something of value for something of greater value &#8212; &#8220;trading up.&#8221;\u00a0 When loss is put in perspective of gain, then loss can &#8220;gain&#8221; positive meaning.\u00a0 This is certainly no justification for evil, but it opens the process of redemption.\u00a0 My favorite example of this is getting hit in the face with a two-by-four.\u00a0 It is possible to learn\/gain wisdom from such a situation, whether it was at the hands of another&#8217;s cruel intent or an &#8220;accident.&#8221;\u00a0 However, just because it is possible to learn\/gain from such a situation, does not mean that it is good to hit people in the face with two-by-fours.\u00a0 It means that such bad situations can be redeemed, placed in a larger, &#8220;transcendent&#8221; perspective, where wisdom can be gained.\u00a0 No doubt there are better and worse ways to learn\/gain wisdom, but every situation offers raw material for learning.\u00a0 So, let&#8217;s redeem those worthless coupons of loss, whose face value is meaningless, into something greater, something with meaning and value.<\/p>\n<p>This poem sets up this process as God getting lost to us, so the even cooler prospect of discovering God is opened up.\u00a0 The implied calculus of this deal is that the pain and loss of not knowing God is worth the coolness of (re-)discovering God. The playful tone of this poem emphasizes the creative and playful aspect of God.\u00a0 Hopefully, this lighthearted aspect of God can be manifest in us enough to make up for the heavy-heartedness of all the pain, loss, and grief that we experience.\u00a0 So, let&#8217;s carry on with the longing and groaning of such discovery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Answer to the Problem of Evil One morning God woke up Before there was such a thing as morning God was well pleased with God&#8217;s self &#8220;I know that I am all that!&#8221; In fact, the only thing better &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/15\/poem-answer-problem-evil\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,15],"tags":[227,400,555,20,392,428,608,65,263,388,293,562,471,359,611,486,509,379,354,18,477,658,94,110,510,333,53,30,325,547,389],"class_list":["post-1247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-amorality","tag-balance","tag-enlightenment","tag-events","tag-evil","tag-experience","tag-gift","tag-god","tag-grace","tag-hope","tag-humility","tag-ironic","tag-learning","tag-life","tag-loss","tag-meaning","tag-mourning","tag-nature","tag-perspective","tag-philosophical","tag-philosophy","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-power","tag-redemption","tag-sacrifice","tag-short-poems","tag-spiritual","tag-transcendence","tag-transcendent","tag-wisdom"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>POEM: An Answer to the Problem of Evil | Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun&#039;s Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! 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