THINGS BEING AS THEY ARE NOWADAYS, WHERE IS GOD?
by : Eloy Roy
According to the latest news, God is in Tunisia, in Egypt, in Libya, in Yemen, in Jordan, in Bahrain… He is walking on the side of the crowds that take to the streets, flood the public places, fill heaven and earth with their cries of anger and hope, and risk their life for freedom. Yes, God is there, more busy than ever…
Even though the Bible proclaims that God is « gracious and merciful, full of love and slow to anger », it very often describes Him as a cruel and vengeful warrior. We will have to wait for the « copernician revolution » of a Jesus from Nazareth so that the warlike and cruel aspect attributed to God retires and that we begin to rather discover Him as a God who is humane and a friend. Still a God who knows how to fight, like in the past, but never – and this is what is particular – siding with the biggest or the strongest, but always on the side of the weakest and of the smallest. Never on the side of the oppressor, and always on the side of the oppressed
When the Hebrew slaves succeed to get away from the clutches of the « god » Pharaoh, or when David, the young shepherd, with a simple slingshot, strikes down the « invicible » Goliath, everybody there recognizes the powerful hand of God. The same thing with the good-looking Judith when she seduces the great general Holophern, makes him drunk and cuts his head off. Or when the lovely Esther passes out in the presence of the terrible «Lion King», then rises and wrings out of him the order to send to the gallows his prime minister who was on the point of committing a genocide. Hundreds of cases like these are related in the Bible. No, « he is not asleep nor is he lying dormant » the God of life.
We do not find God in the golden bunkers of Moubarak, of Ben Ali or of Kadhafi, but rather on the Tahrir square in Cairo, and on the streets of Tunis, of Tripoli, of Benghazi, of Sanaa, of Manama… He is present in the courage of all those peoples who throw out generals, colonels, presidents and princes who have become mad.
There are people who do not believe in Allah nor in the resurrection because they were always taught that the divinity does not get mixed up in politics and much less in a revolution. They were taught that God is indifferent to some realities and that he blesses dictators as well as their victims. In situations where freedom and the future of peoples are at stake, it was made to believe that God was neutral and that he did not mix up with people who were throwing stones and breaking windows.
The Bible teaches completely the opposite. God is on the side of the mother who is giving birth and of the child who is tearing apart her bosom so as to come to life. He is on the side of life and of freedom, without which there is no love.
Does God always win? Sad to say, no. At times, he ends up nailed on a cross. But sooner or later, he rises again.
March 2011
 | *Eloy Roy: Inhabitant of Earth born in Québec, Canada. Since his youth, he dreams of adding his block in the building of the large human fraternity, and this brought him to share for more than 30 years in the life of peoples who are dear to him: Honduras, Argentina and China.He also writes in Spanish: Direct link: http://todoelmundovaalcielo.blogspot.com/Last message: http://todoelmundovaalcielojusticia.blogspot.com/ |