by Jerry Curtis

Created on: December 11, 2006   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

God does not seem to directly intervene in the world at all nowadays. One tenet of the Judeo-Christian tradition is that God has played an active role in his relations with the so-called "chosen people" of Israel, and later in the New Covenant through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus. Both traditions relate a particularly active, and meddlesome role of the Almighty in a gradual unfolding of His divine plan for the salvation of mankind, His flawed creation. This appears to be no longer the case, and the faithful might see this is a sign of the end times just over the horizon.

If there ever were a convenient time for God to intervene, or simply show evidence of his existence, it would be now. What about the genocide and starvation in Darfur? Wouldn't it be a good idea if God could appear on the United Nations General Assembly Trinitron screen and tell us, his mortal agents on Earth to get our act together and help those poor people?

It might seem, then, that God's plan and His will have already been clearly articulated; but somehow in our complacency, comfort, and technically advanced lives His message has somehow been lost in the background noise. Haven't we experienced the Enlightenment and heard the words of truly great men like Billy Graham warning against those things that isolate ourselves from one another? Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King knew this, but we do not listen.

Maybe it is also because we have forgotten the simple truth that defines our human condition: It is that each one of us is isolated within our cranium and consciousness. That loneliness and its second cousins suspicion and fear divert us from what surely must be God's plan, which is to look after one another. That diversion has led to an appalling lack of empathy for our fellow human beings, and we do nothing.

God does not intervene in the world more often because He can only do it through us humans. People starve in Africa or perish in Asia because WE (God's children) permit it. There is sufficient food to prevent starvation, but repressive governments will not allow its distribution to their enemy populations. South American villagers die in mudslides because their governments don't spend money on infrastructure to prevent these cataclysms.

Don't blame God for His non-interference in our earthly affairs. Blame us, for we do nothing with the free will He gave us.

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