by Michael Hurd

Created on: April 25, 2008

Can a loving parent let something they have power over hurt the child they adore? This is probably what we all hear when we read this question. As a bible loving Christian of twenty years it has taken that and more to come close to what I think an answer is. Being a son, an engineer and a father has helped me more than any bible scholar could have.

In Genesis 1:3-5, scripture tells us that God created light, said it was good, separated it from the dark and that was the beginning of "Day" and "Night", the first day. The confusing part for a lot of us folks is later in Genesis 1:13-16 God created stars,the sun and the moon. But I thought he created light ten verses ago? He did. Not a visible light, but what is right. Throughout the Bible the term "light" is a reference to things that are right, good, positive, true, you get the point. In those early verses God established all of the contrasts we need today to exist and live; right and wrong, good, bad, past and future, light and shadow. All artists know that to make a color leap off the canvas a contrasting background must exist. Ghandi's commitment to peace was contrasted by the violence of his environment and era. Mother Theresa's service by the despair and poverty of Calcutta.

So as God created the order and boundaries of the universe and established heaven the boundary for hell was also created. We see this example in the scriptures in Genesis where He separated the skies from the earth, the sea from the shore. It is all part of the order God established. God limited Himself for us by making heaven His home, therefore He does not live in Hell. My wife and I chose our home because of what it held that was special to us. When we walk out the front door we are no longer in our house. We can go anywhere and be anywhere, but that house is our home. The Bible uses this metaphor over and over to help us understand the boundaries God has put in place.

Does a loving father want his child separated from him for eternity, especially in torment? No! But will a child make decisions that a father can't be a part of? Yes. Parents of addicts, alcoholics or criminals can answer this question with painful clarity. A sad example is addiction. Some father's child makes decisions that eventually entrap them in the suffering of addiction. There is very little a father can do except continue to love, hope and seize every proper opportunity to inspire or encourage the child out of the trap. Sometimes the child is lost forever. That

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