Love in the Midst of Hate

"When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future" (Ecclesiastes 7:14).

The news is bad, especially (again) this morning. Attacks around the world in the last few weeks, with much of the world focused today on Paris. ISIS taking responsibility, governments decrying the violence and no one quite sure what to do to stop the madness. The Eiffel Tower is closed, much as many of our monuments were closed in 2001 (and some still are 14 years later), and even more importantly, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters are mourning the loss of (at this count) 127 family members and friends.

The Teacher seems to say that a day like this is no different from any other day. It almost sounds dismissive the way he says, "God has made the one as well as the other." And some people, even some folks who have little to nothing to do with God during the rest of the year, will be quick to blame God (or at least they will blame "religion") for what has happened and what is happening.

How could a loving God do such a thing?

The better question might be this: how could a loving God allow such a thing? And the answer is this: because he is loving. Love caused God to create a world that is not filled with robots, automatons. God gave us choice—to love or to hate, to heal or to kill, to do good or to do evil. That, in some respects, is what the Teacher has been wrestling with throughout this whole book. Choices. Good choices, bad choices. Could God have stopped the violence? Yes, but to take one choice away is to take every choice away. God does not cause the destruction, but God does allow it by not taking away that choice we all have. Good or evil. We want God to take away all the bad choices but leave us alone when we're making "good" choices. But to remove any choice is to remove them all. And God refuses to take away our choice because he loves us.

But the real choice, the real question comes down to us: what will we choose to do with the free will we have been given? Will we fill our world with love or will we fill it with hate? Will we fill it with healing or with violence and death? God created a world and sustains a world where we can still choose. Your future, the Teacher says, is still yet to be written. How will you respond in a world of hate?