Tag: #COVID-19

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The Need for Certainty in Uncertain Times

Family trips cancelled. Birthday celebrations postponed. Planning for the rest of the year and 2021 practically impossible. I recently came across a tweet that read, “I’m not buying a 2021 planner until I see a trailer.”

The pandemic has brought about a loss of any sense of certainty in what tomorrow might bring. Two questions come to mind. Did we ever have an absolute sense of certainty in the pre-COVID-19 era? Did we ever have a trailer of even what the next hour, not year, might bring? And why does it seem like we need some type of certainty to live sane lives?

If I haven’t totally confused you yet, let’s try to unpack these questions together.

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“Is everything sad going to come untrue?”

I don’t recall a time when everyone in the world experienced such global uncertainty. A global pandemic, the death of loved ones, economic crises, that along with the political insecurity in several places around the globe.

It’s been a tough year on us all, and who would believe that it’s half gone already! We’re tired of social distancing and the feeling that we and everyone around us is somehow leprous. We long for life to go back to normal… or at least have some idea when it will go back to normal. As I sat at my desk, my thoughts wandered back to those “good old days” and it felt like I was stuck in a nightmare with no foreseeable end. It was then that the words of a fictional character who also thought he was stuck in a bad dream and awoke to a different reality rung in my ears,

“Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What’s happened to the world?” cried Sam.

The Lord of the Rings, Book 6, Chapter 4

Is everything sad going to come untrue? Can this be true beyond the scope of fictional stories- albeit brilliant- and children’s happily-ever-after fairy tales?

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“Peace to You!”

We live in unprecedented times of worldwide uncertainty.

Trying to think back to a time in history when humanity faced similar uncertainty took me back around 2,000 years ago. After hundreds of centuries of awaiting the Messiah who would come and rescue them, some had believed that the Messiah had arrived. Those committed followers walked with Him, ate with Him, and saw Him perform incredible miracles; from healing the sick to raising the dead back to life! All their hopes were set upon Him; He was their hero. Many had “left everything and followed him” (Luke 5:11).

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لماذا يسمح إله صالح بفيروس كورونا؟

إن كان الله يريد أن يزيل الشر والألم ولا يستطيع
 إذًا فهو عاجز
إن كان الله يستطيع أن يزيل الشر والألم ولا يريد
 إذًا فهو شرير
إن كان الله يستطيع ويريد أن يزيل الشر والألم
 فمِن أين يأتي الشر والألم؟
أبيقور، فيلسوف يوناني، ٣٠٠ ق.م

لماذا يسمح إله كلي القدرة وكلي الصلاح بفيروس كورونا المستجد؟ لماذا يسمح أن يجتاح مثل هذا الوباء العالم فيقلب العالم رأسًا على عقب ويقضي على أضعف من في البشرية؟ لا أنوي الشروع في إيجاد حلًا- في مقالي القصير هذا- لقضية الشر والألم والتي كُتب فيها آلاف المجلدات عبر آلاف السنين، ولكن ما أستطيع وأنوي فعله هو المشاركة بآرائي الشخصية حول هذا الموضوع العصيب، آملة أن يُسهم مقالي في تشجيعنا في هذه الأوقات العصيبة

فكِّر معي في “صديق العمر”.. ربما صديق من أيام الطفولة أو أحد الأقارب أو شريك الحياة، تربطكم سنوات طويلة من الصداقة القوية. قد اجتازتما معًا في “الحلو والمر” فتعرفه أكثر مما يعرف نفسه. هل يمكن لمثل هذه الصداقة القوية أن تنهار بسبب اختلاف واحد في الرأي؟ أرجو أن لا يحدث هذا! كما أعتقد أن صديقك سيكون له نفس الرجاء

ولأننا عندما نتحدث عن علاقتنا بالله، لا نتحدث عن علاقة دامت مدى العمر فحسب، بل نتحدث عن تاريخ من الأمانة والإخلاص دام لقرونٍ طويلة.. بل ومنذ تأسيس العالم، فأرجو أن تسمحوا لي أن نفترض حسن النية في الله لبضعة دقائق

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Why would a good God allow the Coronavirus?

“If God is willing but not able to prevent evil, 
then He is impotent. 
If God is able but not willing to prevent evil, 
then He is malevolent. 
If God is willing and able to prevent evil, 
then where does evil come from?”
- Epicurus, Greek Philosopher, 300 B.C.

Why would a God who is omnipotent (all-powerful) and omnibenevolent (all-good) allow the Coronavirus? Why would He allow such a pandemic to turn the world upside down, killing the most vulnerable? I will in no way attempt to solve the problem of evil, which has been the subject of thousands of volumes over thousands of years, in a few words here, but what I can and will do is offer my own thoughts on this tough issue, in hopes that it could be an encouragement to us during these challenging times.

Think of a childhood friend with whom you’ve shared many many years of friendship. It could be a friend or cousin, or a spouse whom you’ve been married to for many years. You’ve been through thick and thin together. You know him/her better than they know themselves. Would a single misunderstanding between you terminate your lifelong friendship? I would certainly hope not and I’m sure neither would your friend.

Since with God we’re not talking about a lifelong friendship, but a centuries-long history of faithfulness to humankind, kindly allow me to give Him the benefit of the doubt for a few moments here.

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