Originally posted by Maverick
Guppy,
In all seriousness why don't you ask someone who is a theologian those questions. I doubt you really would do so or want to hear the answers, you are just spreading the pain you seem to be feeling from your loss. Assuming of course your comment in your post previous to this one is true. I am not saying you are not being truthful but there are many folks on the bbs here who troll in a manner just as tasteless as that.
Pick the religious faith you feel most comfortable with and ask a clergymen those questions. You may not hear anything you will want to listen to or believe but it's a far better place to ask questions like that.
Pretty sure Dan isn't phrasing the questions out of need for clarification, lack of spiritual faith or unresolved loss. More like offering some perspective regarding flaws in conflicting logic, as he sees it.
Kudos to the security guard for ending the killing spree. It could have been worse. Whether she was guided by the hand of God or how or .... why .... the event transpired the way it did is not for me to say nor judge, I agree. But Dan's questioning didn't come off as anything other than a genuine challenge to the logic of the statement ... not an attack on the sensibilities of the faithful, to me.
Now I would say
this, however .... a three day fast for spiritual reason that made the guard shakey and weak .... until drawing sidearm and dispatching the gunman .... didn't sound like a particularly wise thing to do during her duty hours. Perhaps a day fast on her off hours or something. I've seen the proverbial "baby Christian" go to such extremes then share insight with brethren that drew criticism from fellow parishoners. But .... like I said in the previous paragraph .... not for me to say or judge - I can just see room for a critical eye without it involving desire to insult.
Some of us mortals down here seem convinced they have the answer to the why of it all and present themselves as especially qualified to illuminate the rest of us with God's most intimate thoughts, motivations and methods. And some of us mortals aren't as easily convinced, even to self. Faith doesn't require knowing all the answers. Society progressed past killing holy men (even lay persons) for not knowing all the answers long ago.
The Bible is a wonderful illustration of love and life ... if not taken fanatically literal. Same goes for the Koran, eh? And making up extra stuff to fill in the blanks so those of us struggling to live with our misery can carry on is well and good but not everyone lacks the coping skills to make it. Granted, what's a church service without a sermon? (Well, ask a Quaker.)
Bottom line: Explaining how God's blessings work .... isn't our job. We kinda lack the qualifications for
that position (even when we're the tool utilized for a different job). Sometimes the best response to someone's loss isn't having an
answer .... it's a shoulder, an ear, a hug, a meal, a ride, an offer to share a burden .... and, of course:
Sincere prayers for all suffering loss in this tragedy.
