1 Kings 19:12

Many people want to know how a good and powerful God could be reconciled with the profound and proliferating instances of evil in the world. Now, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan have put a bloody edge to such agonizing questions.

The natural disaster in Japan reminds us of the terrifying truth that natural evil; that is, evil not caused by our moral failures, always will be a threat.

Yes, we can say that even natural evil is not really evil because it’s just the consequences of living on top of the crust of a living planet. If the earth were a dead rock, it would not belch fire and its tectonic plates would not shift, causing earthquakes and tsunamis. Without the protective buffer of our atmosphere, we’d be unprotected from meteors and other threats. We live in a dangerous but living, breathing earth, and any other option would mean death for all life.

If the earth were dead, we’d also be dead. Theology is not comforting in the face of massive, natural disasters. It’s simply foolish to say that we could have done more to predict and protect the people of northern Japan. True protection would mean evacuating all of Japan, all of California and a thousand other places where the earth could suddenly twitch. Some natural evils we simply can’t escape.

Because we can escape into warm homes, we’ve foolishly come to believe we’ve mastered the cold. Because we enjoy our beaches, we’ve come to believe we’re stronger than the waves. Such beliefs are part of a thin fabric of illusion.

We must embrace the paradox of our physical weakness and spiritual audacity. If God had made us invulnerable, we’d be gods. Instead, God has made us as we are, just “a little lower than the angels,” yet capable of comprehending His power and majesty.

Rabbi Mark Gellman.

* * * Do not miss tomorrow’s blog on Prayer * * *