Parable Road #13 (God?)

“Alright Ben, tell me this, if there really is a loving God like you say there is, why is the world so full of pain and suffering?”

Evergreen trees and rocks line the two-lane highway that we are traveling on. Who knew that the scenery in this part of Ontario would be so monotonous?

Still, I’ll have to say, I haven’t been bored driving with Jason yet.

Rain continues to beat against the windshield as we travel onward.

“And who does all these bad things in the world?”

Jason glances at me from his place behind the steering wheel. He looks a bit like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible. He has that cocky attitude as well. Hopefully, he won’t pull too many stunts on this trip.

“I don’t get you, Ben.”

“What I mean is,” I take a breath. “Who does the bad things in this world?”

“Um. Is this a trick question?”

“No.”

Jason’s forehead wrinkles as he ponders. “Um. People I guess.”

“Exactly. People do these things, not God.”

Jason laughs. “But, God allows them to happen! If God is love, why would he allow people to behave like that?”

“People have free will…”

“Freedom to hurt others or kill them? If God exists, why doesn’t he do something!”

“He did!”

“Oh, what exactly did he do?”

“Well, first off, he gave us the Ten Commandments and others like them. They tell us what is wrong and warn us what will happen if we do wrong things.”

“Well, if that works for you, that’s fine. Just don’t expect me to believe in that.”

“Do you think it is wrong to murder someone?”

“Yeah, of course, everybody knows that.”

“Then, you agree with at least one of the Ten Commandments.”

“One out of ten. Don’t read too much into it,” Jason laughs as he pulls a wallet from his pocket.

“What about stealing?”

“Who am I to judge? Maybe the system beat them down, maybe they have a good reason to steal.”

“Should someone steal from you?”

Jason pauses as he sorts through his wallet. “Well, I don’t have anything much to steal at the moment.”

“If you did, would you want someone to take it?”

“Well, I’d rather they didn’t…but…”

“Should I mark you down as two out of ten?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you should.” Jason shakes his head as he tosses the wallet on the dashboard. “But, who could ever keep those commandments anyway?”

“Exactly. We can’t keep them. That’s why God sent Jesus to earth. Jesus kept the commandments perfectly. So, if we accept Jesus as our savior, it is like we too have kept them. We can choose life, not death.”

“You really believe that?”

“Yes, I do.”

“That’s ridiculous!”

“Think what you want.”

“The fact that there is a world full of starving people calling out to God and nothing happens tells me that God isn’t there.”

“Well, thanks for your honesty.”

“Do you have some cash on you Ben? I ran out and can’t get any more until we pull into Toronto.”

“How much do you need?”

“Just twenty bucks. I’m hungry and that truck stop up ahead only takes cash.”

“What if I don’t give it to you?”

“I don’t know. I’ll go hungry I guess.”

“Will I still exist if I don’t give you the money you want?”

“I guess you got me, Ben,” Jason laughs again. A hearty laugh that bubbles up from somewhere deep within.

“I’m just saying, just because we don’t always get what we want, doesn’t mean that God doesn’t exist.”

“We can talk about this later, right now I need to eat something if I’m going to make it through this shift.”

“Alright, tell you what, I’ll buy you supper.”

Jason seems happy about this. And, to be honest, I’m glad to buy him a meal. He doesn’t agree with me on a lot of things. But, he’s a good driver and I know that I am in safe hands with him.

Besides, I don’t mind a good debate. To be honest, I rather enjoy it. I look forward to the rest of the trip. Who knows what’ll come up next?

To be continued…