Letter: In the hands of an angry god

Dear Opinion Editors,

I respectfully submit my comments on the prompt that appeared in Tuesday’s IDS:

I see it every time something tragic happens: People come together, give some money, say some prayers and we all celebrate the goodness of humanity for helping each other out.

However, these current events show us the opposite about our condition: There is something very wrong with the human race. Violence, oppression and natural disaster are all the outcome of our rebellion against God.

So how should we respond to upheavals, revolutions and tragedy? We should take time to do two things: think about our own fragility and repent of the ways we dishonor God every day.

We see events in the world that stir us: unjust treatment of citizens and the suffering of the oppressed. All the while we must understand that people — including the most powerful political leaders — are small and God is big. “Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket” to God, “who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness” (Isaiah 40:15, 23).

And when catastrophe strikes, we need to realize that we at IU are no less susceptible to disasters than those who are suffering in Japan. Instead of being angry at God or calling him unfair, we ought to be humble and understand that He is holy and just in everything he does.

Because you and I offend Him by disobeying Him, we each deserve to be wiped out by an earthquake or tsunami, killed by an oppressive dictator and worse.

Jesus himself addresses how we should respond to crisis and tragedy.

When His followers asked Him about some Galileans who were murdered by their governor, He explained that their slaughter was not because they were worse sinners than anyone else. In fact, He says, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). If we don’t, the only thing keeping us alive is the mercy of God.

The world is ugly not because God has turned from us, but because we have turned from Him. The proper response to these times of crisis is to see them as God’s gracious warning to us and to turn to Him in love and obedience.

— Cole Tutino
MM, Violoncello Performance