Why Did God Make the Gnats?
David Edwards was one of my children’s favorite musicians. David was an alum (Class of 1970) and former pastor of two Lynchburg churches, First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and Church of the Covenant. David was also a musician and songwriter. He spent many summers singing with children at Camp Kum-Ba-Yah, teaching them about faith, diversity and love. David’s memorial service was held on campus last summer and his family has recently made much of his work available for free download, so I was listening to a few of my favorites – Why Did God Make the Gnats?
Why did God Make the Gnats? Why, I wonder Why? ‘Cause when I go out to play, they fly up in my eye! Some things in life I’ll never know, some things I’ll never understand. But I guess in this big world there’s room for everyone!
Poison Ivy is a Pain! It grows where I’m not watching. One day I’m playing hide and seek, the next day I wake up scratching!
David wrote this song after his young son asked him why gnats existed. Why there is evil in the world is one of the hardest struggles for humans (theodicy is the academic word for it). Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a famous book in the 1980s, When Bad Things Happen to Good People” that says that we cannot hold God responsible for tragedy since God put in motion the laws of the universe to be unchanging. With our own brokenness and our ability to make choices, pain and suffering is inevitable, even if God is troubled by the suffering as well. Others believe that there is an actual force of evil in the world that causes suffering. Still others use suffering as proof that God doesn’t exist.
My children still point out to me, actually quite often, that, “Life is not fair.” They are right – it isn’t. We know that it isn’t fair and yet so often we expect it to be. I always react negatively to the phrase, “God doesn’t give us more than we can handle,” because in fact there are many times that I see people overwhelmed. That phrase also implies that God directs periods of struggle to a specific person. I just can’t believe that.
Life may not always be fair…or easy…or pleasant…or good. Sometimes it is messy and miserable and barely survivable. It is a privilege to be with our community in these rocky parts of the journey, I still wish it was easier and better for all of us. You never really know the crises that others are facing. Please be company and support for one another. We may never understand, but we can ease the suffering of others.
The closing verse of David’s song gives me hope:
I don’t have to ever like the things that make me cry. Besides, I think there’s more that makes me glad to be alive!
Blessings, Stephanie