I offer a few thoughts from an author that blesses my heart and I share this with ‘a simple desire to encourage you & our friendship.

Marc Sr

God and Man at Work 

Doing Well and Doing Good in the Bible’s View of Life

By: Udo Middelmann 

A summary statement at the end of Chapter Five.

“According to the Bible we live in a world made by a definite God who truly exists. Intellectually there is no viable alternative explanation for this world of things and people. God tells us that he wanted not only things but also persons, that he loves us and is eager to tell us how we can be less insecure, fearful, and despondent. He tells us to look at life from the dual perspective of necessary discernment and of the abnormality of much of what happens. Discernment requires the critical distance to look into the face of life and mark genuine distinctions. It sets us free from the temptation to neglect or abandon our individuality and critical faculties, our specific role as persons, by submitting to whatever happens anyway, by joining others in a group collective or to accept all things as necessary and inevitable. 

The recognition of abnormality liberates us from the idea that everything that happens is meant to happen, whether events in nature or through people’s cruelty or kindness. We live in the fundamental unfairness of a fallen, abnormal and therefore dangerous world. Life’s experiences, especially the contrasting obscenity of death to life, demand the openness to question, to argue, and to sort out what is right and good. Discernment helps us figure out which is which; the recognition of possible abnormality liberates us to make moral judgments. 

We must refuse to bow to pain, death, unfairness, ill health, and exploitive rulers.