Rabbi Harold S. Kushner asked the most difficult of questions in 1982 with a book of the same title: Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People? The answers that come forth from most ministers, priests, or rabbis are some of the weakest of all religious answers. How can I say that? I know. I have been there and I have done that, and I refuse to do it anymore.  <!--more-->

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Rabbi Kushner had a son who was suffering from progeria (premature aging) and he got to see his son die as an eighty year old person who was but a teenager longevity-wise.

When it comes to THEODICITY, the church seems to be at its worst. Who can explain the atrocities of the life, the premature deaths, the horrors, mass killings, and out of nowhere sudden deaths that take a two year old? Who indeed can stand at a funeral and thank God for taking a seventeen year old good kid so early in life? Worse yet, who can EXPLAIN it to anyone's satisfaction?

What are the words most often spoken in such situations?

>It's just a mystery of God.
>He or she is in a much better place now.
>They were spared the future suffering of the world.
>One day we will understand............ad nauseum.

How about if we don't try to explain what we don't know, quit giving religious platitudes, and just share in the grief of the person? People don't need to KNOW, they just need to FEEL that you CARE; however, most people are simply too uncomfortable in SHARING the love and grief being experienced by the hurting and wounded that are left behind. Sure, it's difficult. There are some areas though wherein I can relate and help the person. More specifically, I'm most comfortable in consoling individuals who-

>Have lost their Father or Mother.
>Have lost a spouse in a tragic accident.
>Have lost a son or daughter in an unexpected moment without time to say good bye.
>Have suffered or are going through the scare of cancer.
>Are tied up in knots about a potential bankruptcy or going through one
>Lost a home in a fire.
>Been unjustly accused of a variety of issues.

I could go on with many other no so good examples, but seven above should suffice as I have experienced ALL of them and I can therefore relate more deeply- more closely. I stand with Father Leon Rivas who said, "I have tried to understand why God allows innocent suffering and why I cannot stop loving him." Ah, this is where reality meets life, and where phony religious placebos are defeated!