by Aaron Wagner

Created on: June 30, 2009   Last Updated: July 05, 2009

Understanding why bad things happen to good people can be a daunting proposition. Humans are gifted with an innate sense of justice that is often offended when seemingly good people suffer undeserved wrongs. The standard reasoning most frequently assumed is that good people ought to reap only good experiences in life and that bad people ought to be the ones to experience bad things. There are many possibilities that can be given to explain why bad things happen to good people, and many of these are valid. There are however, a couple of specific considerations that might make the topic a little easier to deal with: the first being the nature of this world and the second, and more important, being the purpose of life.

The universe, as it is understood by men, is a physical universe governed by physical laws. This means that when two vehicles traveling at seventy miles per hour in opposite directions collide head on with each other, no matter how good the people in the vehicles may be, there are most likely going be casualties. It also means that cells inside the human body will sometimes go bad and result in cancer, or that some houses will burn to the ground due to electrical malfunctions, regardless of the moral status of the individuals affected. In a world as full of the potential that ours posses, bad things are going to happen; and just as the rain that falls from the sky does not discriminate between good and bad people, the destructive events in our world are not confined in occurrence to bad people alone. While this fact of life may not offer solace, it is always important to remember when considering why bad things happen to good people.

In addition to an examination of the nature of the universe, a consideration of the purpose of life can be extremely helpful and may even offer some comfort for those seeking an understanding of why bad things happen to good people. For if the purpose of life is indeed more than a pursuit of momentary happiness, then it would stand to reason that any such purpose would certainly involve the betterment of one's character. That being said, it is often the "bad" things in life that enhance character the most; for it is not usually when things are going well that the lessons of patience, perseverance, contentment or compassion are learned, but rather, during the most difficult trials of life.

Take for example the story of Corrie ten Boom, author of The Hiding Place. Corrie ten Boom was born in 1892 and lived with her

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