Stuff happens in people’s lives. Some of it is tragic. Sometimes people just can’t catch a break. Many people say, “Things happen for a reason.” Do they? Is that blaming the victim? Are some reasons behind the things that happen outside of a person’s control?
The following is a text version of this posting.
Everything happens for a reason. We’ve all been told that. We may have even said that. Perhaps we’ve wanted to believe that. When we face difficult times and tragedies, there’s comfort in believing that there’s a reason for what just happened. But is there?
Let’s think about some recent events. For more than a year, a war has been raging in Ukraine. Towns have been destroyed. People have been tortured and killed. The suffering has been immense. Did it happen for a reason?
There was a recent earthquake that caused devastation in Turkey and Syria. Tens of thousands of people died. Many people continue to suffer because of the lack of aid and assistance. Did it happen for a reason?
Children going about their day in school were attacked in a senseless shooting. A high-capacity assault rifle was used to gun down students and teachers alike. Did it happen for a reason?
Sometimes there are reasons behind things that we don’t want to face. We don’t want to admit that greed, the lust for power, and political ideology lead to people’s suffering. In the case of the earthquake in Turkey, yes, natural disasters happen as they will, but the press has documented that for years building codes were not enforced leading to the tremendous loss of life. That’s part of the reason for the tragedy in Turkey.
One reason that people suffer is that our actions lead to suffering, sometimes our own suffering and sometimes the suffering of others. We don’t like to admit this truth. We cause each other pain.
But other forms of suffering happen simply because they do. Each of us will die. Before we do, we’ll probably experience sickness and infirmity. That’s part of life’s design. We see it in nature as the seasons move from spring, through summer, to the dying process of autumn, and finally, winter. For me, spiritually, life’s realities are well captured in the words of Jesus: the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. (See Matthew 5:45) Whether our intentions are pure or devious, we’ll all experience pain in life.
What’s the reason that things happen? Well, things happen. Many things happen because of what we do to each other. Most of the great horrors of history fall under that category. But other things happen because that is the course of life: we are born, we live, and at some point, we die. But I am not fatalistic about this. Instead, I find great hope in the face of life’s difficulties. For me, it doesn’t matter the cause behind those difficulties. Instead, I find hope and inspiration in the words of Jewish writer, Elie Wiesel. In his book, Night, recounting his experience in the Nazi concentration camp, Wiesel recounts the prisoners being marched past the gallows where the bodies of those who were hanged were left to rot. One of them was a child who was put to death for stealing a morsel of food. One prisoner called out, “For God’s sake, where is God?” Wiesel’s response came from a deep conviction: God is there, hanging from the gallows.
Do things happen for a reason? Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. When there is a reason, it’s often because of human greed, lust for power, or political ideology. Whether there’s a reason or not, events in life may cause us pain. Wiesel’s words remind us that a belief in God isn’t about changing the tragedy or preventing the pain. Instead, belief in God leads us to understand that there is something more to life than the immediate situation. Even in life’s pain, the Source of Life continues to stir and evoke in us hope for goodness, beauty, and a way forward. Ultimately, I think it takes great faith to believe that even in life’s tragic events, hope can be found.