I have heard the argument of: If God is Omnibenevolent (infinitely good), then how come so much evil exists in the world? And there are many arguments for this. The most common is that Satan (or some other adversarial force) exists and as such we are tempted to do bad things which cause others misery. Another argument I have heard over the years (which I am inclined to agree with) is that evil is born from human beings feeling such disconnection to the Divine that their desires get warped and in their quest for happiness (which is the human dilemma) they begin to believe that doing things that normal people would consider appalling will be for their greater joy. And then there is another theory. One that makes the most sense to me. Allow me to share.
I call it: the Storytelling Theory; and to put it simply, a man's life is a story being told by God/Spirit/Man's Superconscious. You might think that this sounds strange. I think it will take a little more elaboration than just that one sentence.
We all tell stories. Sometimes they are lies we make up to cover our misdeeds. Sometimes they are thought patterns we tell ourselves that reinforce old beliefs. And then we tell fictional stories to people around us in the hopes of entertaining others. You need not be a Pulitzer winning novelist in order to make a good story. You just need to have the desire to convey an idea to another.
All good stories are about an event that occurred in the author's imagination and they usually revolve around a central figure, force, or person who plays a major role in the event. And all good stories require some form of conflict.
But take the fairy tale of Cinderella for example. If Cindy had no troubles in her life, no conflict had no evil stepmother, no difficulty getting to the ball and winning the heart of Prince Charming, or any kind of conflict with being able to marry him, what would the story have been? It would have been about a girl whom never grew up or evolved. The heroine wouldn't have had any trouble fulfilling her role. And if she grew up not having conflict in her life, having all her needs met and then becomes a princess, the readers of the story would think that she didn't deserve her upliftment in society nor any of the rewards given to her.
The solution was to give her trouble. Cinderella is born without knowing her mother and is abused by her step-mother whom forbids her from going to the ball. On top of that, her inherent beauty is hidden by the ashes of the fireplace where she is forced to sleep. Then through some miracle (either fairy godmother, magic tree and birds, enchanted fish or what not since this part of the story changes with each retelling in the different cultures) Cinderella is amazed by her chance to attend the ball where her beauty is seen by all and in her newfound grace, she enchants Prince Charming and through the test of placing on the glass slipper, she is able to move past her terrible upbringing and live a truly enchanted life.
What was the point of Cinderella's conflict? In the beginning she is mourning loss and she is unaware of her beauty and the power of her faith. When her faith manifests the magic allowing her to go to the ball, Cinderella is able to see her beauty and be uplifted by that, and from the loss of her mother and all the love that would have brought, Cinderella is brought back to find love in the Prince and lives happily ever after.
But enough about Fairy Tale Princesses. The point of my example was that the story was made complete by the fact that there were challenges for the protagonist to overcome. That she was forced to confront herself and grow as a result.
In this same way, God/Spirit is telling your story. And in this telling, there are challenges that come into play for you that you do not always understand. You may have suffered from terrible illness, loss, injury, financial or spiritual setback. You may not know your power. You may not feel as if you can truly love. Or like Cinderella, you may not realize how beautiful you really are.
But you know what? Even though you do not always like the challenges that are in your life, fear not as like all good human storytellers, the author of your own life has your best interests at heart, and has the best outcome for you, even if it is something you do not consciously understand.
We see evil in this world because it is a challenge set for us to overcome. If we had nothing to overcome and face, we would be very bland beings without any dynamic perfection to us. We would be static and unchanging. Change is the only constant of the universe. As such, we need to be dynamic. We need to be able to have something to fight for. Something to get better at. And even something to confront.
And just as any good human storyteller does, God experiences all of the events of your life alongside you. S/he is there to comfort and console you. To make you strong and make sure that the best possible outcome occurs for you. This is done out of love and nothing else.
There is even better news to this too. The story of your life is NOT a monologue told by God/dess. It is in fact a dialogue between you and Hir. You see, as I have said before on many occassion, Man is God. Man is the creator of his own reality. We always have a choice. We may not be consciously choosing to be diagnosed with cancer or get into a huge car accident, but we do choose how we respond to that. And we choose how we can adapt from that experience to grow as people and evolve into the Gods we are.
This can be as small as choosing to react in a certain way when something happens. Or it can be as big as actually creating a change in your reality to learn from the trajedy in your life. We are Magicians, Psychics, and Energy Workers after all. We can do it if we truly desire.
I do not abide by the idea that something outside of Divinity is causing our suffering. And neither should you. Accept the reality you have created for yourself and see where it will take you. I have faith in you.
LVX Amor!
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