Theodicy

Theodicy

Why is there evil in this world?
How can a good God permit it?
Everyone wonders.
Though I have never been one
to anthropomorphize God,
I sense an answer that
can be found in us—some of us—
something left over from the spark
of the divine—left in the bleak
hearts of men to shine—maybe.
How can an omnipotent God allow Evil to exist?
Maybe because deep down—
beyond our pitiful realm of understanding—
the one they call Most Merciful,
Most Compassionate,
would just as soon forgive Lucifer as any of us…
someday, somehow.
Is that kind of forgiveness beyond the understanding
of our darkest souls?
I don’t pretend to know the unknowable.
I don’t presume to think of God as human,
but if mercy is divine,
if it is compassion that makes humanity
something more than a brutal race,
then maybe it is God’s mercy that
allows evil to be—to grow and prosper with our human hands—
not to test the good, as we so often presume,
but rather to give the bad one more chance,
and another
and another
and another
and another…
To repent, regret or, in one special case…maybe even return.
Most Compassionate.
Most Merciful.
I heard tell that even at the end of his life,
Job could still smile.
Most Compassionate.
Most Merciful.