23. The silence of God (I)

Why God has allowed the “tsunami” that has swept Asia? This question has been made a lot recently. With variations, it is repeated every time there is a catastrophe or each time which, on a personal level, a problem violently sifts our existence. It is, perhaps, the largest of the questions that one must answer who has the audacity, as is the case of the Christians, to believe in the love of God.

Faith, however, is not to believe absurd things. Faith is believing possible things that, at least for the time being, cannot be demonstrated. In addition, faith is not an exclusively religious matter. Lovers have faith in the fidelity of the other. Citizens have faith – sometimes excessively naive- in the promises of politicians and that’s why they vote for them. People have faith in drivers so they can cross a green light because the opposing traffic is stopped respecting the red light.

In the religious sphere, faith begins with the existence of God. Kant, the conscientious German philosopher, stated that “it is morally necessary to assume the existence of God”. In reality, it is not difficult to believe that God exists. In fact, the vast majority of men have believed and believe it as well. Among other things, because someone had to start this marvelous invention which is creation and which is, in particular, life. Those who say they do not believe because they only accept what can be proven in a laboratory, should remember the dialog that took place between an astronaut and a neurologist in the Soviet Union, who were arguing about religion. The neurologist was a Christian and astronaut no. “I have been in space many times,” boasted the astronaut, “but I have not seen God or the angels”. “And I have operated on many smart brains,” replied the neurologist, “but I’ve never seen a single thought”. However, thoughts exist, as love exists. They have, of course, a physiological basis, chemistry, but are much more than that. It is not difficult to believe in God and those have more faith who believe that He doesn’t exist -“because, without being able to demonstrate it, they reject all evidence of His existence – than those who believe that He does exist. It is easier, more logical and intelligent to believe that God exists than to believe that He doesn’t exist.

The difficulty, however, is to believe in the love of God. And it is difficult precisely because again and again the reality seems to confirm that this is not the case. The death of a child, an unforeseen illness, a devastating hurricane, a destructive tsunami or, simply, the problem that afflicts you in particular, and in order to resolve it you plead the help of God. How can this be a God of love, who, apparently, does nothing to solve these problems, who allows the existence of evil and pain, who shrugs at the suffering of the innocent?

I agree with the statement that “those contents of faith that are not evident or obvious cannot be put forward as if they were, if you do not want to fall into what many years ago I called the cynicism of the faith” – a non-Christian attitude. – I would like to say that in dealings with others, the Christian, for as firm as his personal certainty may be, he must submit how uncertain what to many other men is, and has to justify his certainty as far as possible”.

I have the certainty that God is love and not only the security that exists. Or to put it another way, I am sure that He exists and I have faith that He is love. In what do I base that faith? What arguments do I have, on the basis of faith, to arrive at the Truth?

First of all, my faith in the love of God is rooted in Christ. And, secondly, in a conception of myself as a limited being that – as I have said before, – cannot ever know everything of God, or understand all the plans of God. That is, the intelligence, the hand of humility that is the attitude of the wise, leads me to accept the mystery. The mystery is not absurd. On the contrary, in relation to God, the mystery is likely, the smart thing. But that mystery, that “silence of God”, that “not understanding why God allows certain things”, is illuminated by the experience of Christ. Illuminated, say, not canceled. The darkness remains, sometimes more intense and others less so, but it is always there. It is always faith that makes me make the leap to the “Yes, I believe.” In any case, as I say, the person of Christ, his life, his message, his death, his resurrection, are a light in the darkness, a light sometimes so strong that faith almost disappears and gives way to certainty.

Why is Christ the door that allows us to believe in the love of God? Because, first, He was the one who taught us that God is love. And, second, because, He, being God, is the ultimate test of that love. I suffer, can I get sick, I can lose loved ones, I can die; however, there will always resound in my heart the words of John: “God so loved the world that he sent his only Son for the salvation of the world.” What more could God do to show us his love?

He could, indeed, do other things. In addition: to suppress the evil that is in the human heart and return humanity and creation to that idyllic situation there was before original sin, the real cause of the introduction of evil, pain, death in the world. He could do that, effectively, and why He doesn’t do that is the mystery, is the darkness, it is the dose of faith that I have to accept. He could do anything, but he could not do anything else, in the sense that He could not do anything greater, more convincing than what he did: sending His Son into the world to give his life for us and showing us, not with words but with deeds, how much he loves us. And if I am not able to believe in the love of God upon seeing Christ Crucified, will He give me that faith, or health, or money? Why not believe, then, to see the many things going well in life, in my life?

I believe in the love of God because Christ teaches it to me. Because I believe in Christ I believe in God-love. Because Christ exists, I am able to live with the mystery, with doubt, with faith. And because I have faith, I am able to not get crushed by suffering, I am able to fight, to see the good side of things, I realized how much is going well and not only of what is going wrong. In short, because I have faith, my spirit is able to be resurrected.