WHY DO GOOD PEOPLE SUFFER? - 2

February 26, 2005

Some people believe that there are certain obligations they owe to God, and if

they fail to fulfill them, they or their dear ones are punished. One such woman

met me when I visited Ottawa, Canada. She told me that she recited the second,

twelfth and eighteenth chapters of the Bhagavad Gita every day, before taking

her lunch. She observed, also, the Satyanarayan fast, every month. But during a

whole month, she missed out on the recitation and the fast. The day after

Satyanarayan her husband, who was perfectly healthy and normal, suffered a

stroke, and has remained paralysed since then. The woman put me the question

that was uppermost in her mind: “Has this anything to do with my failure to

read from the

scriptures and observe the fast? Is there any cause and effect relationship between the two?”

I think of a young man. He was the only son of his parents, who are good and

kind, and obliging by nature. With his pleasant manners, the young man easily

won over the hearts of many who knew him. One night, the car in which he was

returning home, collided against a truck, killing him and three of his other

friends. When the news was conveyed to his parents, they cried: “Why did the

Merciful Lord allow this happen to us? Why was our only son snatched away from

us?”

A learned Rabbi has written a book titled, When Bad Things Happen to Good

People. In this book the Rabbi narrates how his three year old son was

afflicted with an incurable disease called Progeria. The effect of this

disease, he was told, would be that the boy would not grow taller than three

feet, would remain bald, and would age rapidly. Even as a child, he would have

the appearance of an old man! Naturally, the father was grief-stricken. “Why

has God permitted an innocent child to become the victim of such a disease? He

asked. “He has hurt or harmed no one. Why has he been exposed to physical and

psychological torture?” The author considers several similar cases and

concludes that God is not omnipotent, as we believe Him to be. God has limited

power. Within those limitations God can exercise His discretion. But there are

forces over which He has no control. If those

forces operate, God has no way of helping you out.

-to be continued.

(Author: Sri J P Vaswani)

TAMASO MA JYOTIRGAMAYA….

Worrying is like a rocking chair.

Though it keeps you occupied, it leads you nowhere!

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