Total Pageviews

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

LIFE - A GIFT OR A CURSE?



The other day I got into a discussion with Ruggedman on Twitter about a statement he made about Life being a gift. So as to be fair and before somebody accuses me of slandering the good man's name I will post his tweets on here. Surely he will have no problem with that, afterall any man who can record the phone call conversation he had with another man (9ice) shouldn't have a problem with me using his tweets to make an point. *grins* Totally disagree with the way he handled that situation btw. 
Anyhoo, Ruggedman tweeted this  -  
"So in what ever u r doing right now,or the situation or condition u r in just pause n thank God for the gift of life."
I replied with this - @RuggedyBaba Life is not a gift to everybody o, just because it's a gift to u does not mean it's not a curse to somebody else.

And to qualify my reply to him, I sent him a Twitpic of this kid who was being stalked by the vulture and asked him whether he thought the kid in the picture considered life as a gift or as a curse?

My guy then tweeted back saying - Azazel in which ever country dat is,they av a leader n its their responsibility to cater for their pple.It woulda been cool if u were in dat pic,helpin out
I replied his tweet with - @RuggedyBaba and wat is God's responsibility?Wen the leaders cannot fulfill their responsibility?Surely the almight shud not be a bystander
He replied with - He will nt come down to intervene.Question d leaders n nt God or me.RTAzazel:  and wat is God's responsibility?Wen the leaders cannot fulfill their responsibility?Surely the almight shud not be a bystander
I then wondered why if God could not intervene to save a little boy about to die, why then do we bother praying at all. 
I replied - @RuggedyBaba if God will not come down 2 intervene why then do countless nigerian pastors pray 4 him 2 intervene 4 Nigeria's situation?

So I then asked him how he knew God could not come down to intervene he replied 

I only responded out of courtesy.What exactly did u do to help d boys situation?RT Azazel:  but u made a statement and I questioned the statement.Nd since wen did u become God's spokesperson on earth baba?U be pastor?
 He then replied with this - Since when did u become d spokesperson for d boy in d pic?n what gives u d right to question "my statement"RT Azazel:  but u made a statement and I questioned the statement.Nd since wen did u become God's spokesperson on earth baba?U be pastor?

Anyways after this back and forth, the guy asked me what I had done to help the boy in the picture, obviously the boy in the picture already don die, go hell come back enter bus, come die again enter heaven. (Meaning the boy had been dead for a cool min). But I realised that when some people can't give u a satisfactory answer to a satisfactory question, they throw the question right back at you. Rugged now started asking me what I had done to help people who had suffered. Personally I believe that people who ask questions like that need to have their heads checked. Because u are  asking a person to be specific on how much money he/she has donated to a cause or what they have done to help suffering people across the world. 
I asked him whether he wanted me to tell him how much I had donated to the poor? Such questions are silly, because no matter what answer I gave my charitable efforts would be diminished by the person asking the question. Remember you can never give enough, so if I had told Ruggedman that I gave $25 every month to PLANUSA he could have asked me how come I didn't give $50? If I said I had donated all my life savings including my house he would ask me why I did not donate my BB.
I don't know if you guys get my point, but we sha went off on a tangent from the original question on whether Life was a gift or a curse.
I told him that I believed that Life could be a gift to others and could be a curse to some. Pretty Reasonable Yeah? What do u guys think?
And also was he right when he said that God could not intervene to save the little boy's life??? 
If you were God, would u save the kids life? If no, why?

33 comments:

leggy said...

i agree with you 100%, life is a gift to some and some a curse. why does he think people kill themselves?
thank the Lord, for YOUR good life.
wow, i agreed with you.wonders shall never end.
and can you imagine im first?lol

Azazel said...

Help me ask him o Leggy..
Maybe he thinks that they kill themselves because their so overjoyed with being alive, they didn't know how else to repay their maker than to kill themselves

Unknown said...

***WARNING SIDENOTE***
The child in the picture is a little girl. She didn't die (at least not that day). She was walking to her mother who was off struggling to get food off from humanitarian aid workers that brought them food. The girl tried to walk to her mother but she was so weak from starvation that she couldn't walk without pausing to gather strength. The photographer took this picture while she crouched on the floor resting and as a vulture perched in the background. The picture was taken in 1993 in Sudan and let us all remember that the people of Sudan are still going through this 17 years later.

***BACK TO THE POST***

1) I think life is a gift to some and a curse to others. After-all if everybody really believed life was a gift then nobody would commit suicide.

2) Clearly God (being all powerful) could intervene to save the child's life as well as the millions of people who have died in Sudan since the picture was taken. Why isn't this happening? I dunno but if I could ask, I would.

3) If I were God of course I would do something!

TayneMent said...

Na true you talk Azzie.

Azazel said...

Good point @ EDJ...
Yup @ Azzie

@ EDJ
I also heard that the photographer committed suicide later on because of how traumatic the thing was for him

Enoch said...

I used to think life is a gift because I thought, regardless of your problems, being a clump of atoms capable of consciousness is infinitely better than being a rock.

Then I convinced myself it's a curse because even the happiest man(woman) would leave this earth not realizing his(her) fullest possible potential. For eg. The happiest man 300 years ago had a life expectancy in the ~40s when smallpox and malaria were existential threats. In a 1000 years from now, the average man wouldn't trade places with Bill Gates. And even further into the future, death would be just another curable disease. They'll so pity us all for embracing death.

But I now feel like life is neither a curse nor a blessing. It's just purposeless computation. Sounds very odd. I know. If I try to explain it would sound even more odd, like I'm off my rocker.

El-Divine said...

well, life is a gift to some n a curse to others. That much is obvious. When rugged said ppl shuld thank god for the gift of life, those who life is a gift shuld thank him. The others shuld save their questions for him.

Formerly stealth reader said...

a gift is something that is given to us.........(sometimes we get good or sometimes we get crappy gifts...depends)
now for ppl who think life is not a gift: they probably wonder, i didnt ask to be gifted! pls keep this gift of life to yourself! they probably would have preferred being a tiny speck in a condom in some trashcan.
but we that consider life a gift!
sometimes dont you wonder why you are the lucky sperm or oocyte, YOU had no say in it! .....hmmm is it a gift when the alternatvie would have been the same death that awaits all man(for ppl who believe death is the end)......ouch! my brain hurts too much thinking for a year!. am done.

The Messiah said...

Nah.....Life is a gift it's just the circumstances it brings that is a curse. Think about it, have you ever received a gift that led to something bad. Like getting COD Modern Warfare 2 and then your grades dropped. Life truly is a gift, a price for winning the race against the 50 million sperm that competed for your mother's egg. The curse in it is the circumstances other people make it for you, and your location.

Jennifer A. said...

Life is definitely a gift. Many times we need to ask God why "bad things happen to good people," and the funny thing about it is that if we ask Him with all sincerity, He will answer us. With patience, trust, and faith, we will slowly unravel the answers. And if we study His answers properly we will understand that what He gave to us as a gift has been adulterated by the impact of wickedness in the world.

God intervenes. He uses human beings to intervene. If we are waiting for a magical appearance of a large hand reaching out from heaven to earth, then we might wait till eternity. God's hands are in our hands, in the hands of the Body of Christ. We are His eyes, His feet, His mouth-piece, and His ears...and many times we have to be in such a position as to be able to hear Him speak.

****
Throwback to the era before the picture and the starving baby--->

Why do wars break out? They break out because human beings find a reason to make war, instead of peace. They justify taking the lives of others with topics such as "Religion." Some even go as far as saying God sent them. It's the same reason why innocent people are murdered every day.

Why does starvation occur? It occurs due to a lack of resources...the soil lacks resources because there is no rain on the land. Now, two things can happen: 1) Prevention- in biblical times Joseph had a dream about famine and he was inspired to set up a store-house such that when famine came there would still be food. In modern day terminology, men of wisdom can prevent farmine by many agricultural techniques (still I do not blame the innocent men, women, and children who lack the knowledge to take preventive measures but I believe there are men who are sleeping instead of taking their rightful positions/responsibilities). Some famines happen forcefully through natural disasters---> people from other countries need to team up to help out in the situation.

Where does life begin and where does it end? I just read an article about rising above trials and tribulations. You know what? It is a good thing to suggest that we rise above affliction, but I'm going to think past our current existence and say this, "There is life after death...a place of eternity. What happens there beats whatever happens on earth."

I might not have expatiated enough here, but I'll say one more thing: there was enough power in that photographer who took his own life not to have done so. Through his works of photography and by giving speeches/submissions in different parts of the world, even up until this month...he might have made a larger impact on Sudan than he made with this picture. I mourn his loss. If what you say is true, I am deeply saddened by His suicide.

Enoch said...

@Jaycee

I would really love to hear how wickedness factors into, or perhaps the God angle on, natural disasters and possible Extinction Level Events like; meteors, virulent pandemics and massive solar flares.

!.!.! said...

If we say life is a gift, then who from? If it's a curse (as you opine), then placed by whom? Surely, you can afford to be direct. God cursed some people with life; right?

You obviously have your mind made up. So, there's very little point in devoting my next few seconds to typing this. Still, ....

Ever wondered why the photographer what at that same place at that precise time?

What's a gift? None of us asked for life; it was given us FREELY - but it requires our input. A scholarship doesn't mean you be spared the need for hard work.

Of course, our lots in life vary significantly. A pinkie's size doesn't make it any less a finger than the thumb. Believe it or not, someone celebrated the birth of that child. But then, like every precious gift, someone or something else is always trying to take it away. Still, it's rash and short-sighted to curse the author of life because of a "minor glitch". It's amazing how things change. You might run into that kid tomorrow - and read nothing of its sordid past from the new aura.

A cob of corn is a s much a gift as a brand-new BMW. Gratitude is all that determines how each is received. LIFE IS A GIFT; WHAT YOU DO WITH IT IS ENTIRELY YOUR BUSINESS.

Quick One: Is your life a curse to you?

PS - The last time God came down physically, the world was naked; the next time he does, it will be again! I think you should be more pre-occupied with what you'd do to make such kids feel the same warmth you feel. Someone has failed that kid; will you?

lani said...

As a kid, my dad gave a bmx (bicycle) as a gift on my 10th birthday. The fact that I couldn't ride the bike and fell so many times, bruising my knees and elbow don't make me wish I never had it.
Life is a gift any way you look at it.
I wouldn't talk about the picture because taking stories/events in isolation never reflects a true picture. e.g. you said she died, but someone more familiar with the story said otherwise.
From my window, Life is gift and I am ever grateful to God

Azazel said...

Lol Imise..
The photographer who took the picture committed suicide later on, because of the photo..
So if u were goin for a 'miracle angle' argument, I guess we can both agree that that fell flat.
Someone did fail that kid, and the blame does not belong to God alone, it can be equally shared..
Afterall if the creator is going to 'bring' u into the world, the onus is on him to make sure ur birthed into a well off family. What's the point of blessing a starving family with a child? The child just acts as a burden not as a blessing.

Azazel said...

@ Lani
As previously stated, Life can be a blessing to others and a curse to others..

Realist said...

The one thing Ruggedman failed to answer, and Azazel failed to press (I am highly disapointed in you, you let this guy control the argument) was the question, "should the child in the picture consider life as a gift or a curse?" The answer is obvious, and that was why he changed the subject of the argument.

"Life's a Bitch and then you die"

"Life's a bitch, but God forbid the bitch divorce me"

. said...

oh I heard bout this, everyone was going all crazy on the guy,because he spent time taking the girl's pic instead of saving her. I agree with you (half heartedly as always).I'm just going to go with one man's meat is another man's poison. For some tis a gift, and other's hmmm, k, I'll go with a different approach, we are all here for our own specific purpose, and once we've served that purpose, we're kaploot, (lack of a better word). out. What was that baby's purpose? Maybe a way of drawing attention to the problems in that region?

NoLimit said...

Yes I believe life is a gift scratch that, I know life is a gift and yes God intervenes in the affairs of man!!!
But he is not going to come down from heaven,he's going to use and I to fulfill his purpose.case in point is Nigeria,corruption is so rife and it is obvious the leadership of the nation needs a major overhauling but if good people sit down and do nothing,then evil will prevail in leaps and bounds...hence the reason we all need to stand up for what is right!like Edmund Burke said:"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
The pix up there is an award winning one,the photographer(award winner) committed suicide shortly after that...I guess you can say he never stopped wondering what happened to that child...sad but true.

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love this post! Maybe not for the reasons you think Azzy, but I so so love it. It's high time people started thinking! I think we are all jaded. By experiences, exposures and predominant influences. If you grew up around a lot of insincerity, the tendency to be skeptical can be relatively higher than most...
That being said, I'm not gonna even try to defend God. The Big Guy can take care of Himself. Everyone tries to defend Him and it's funny cos, He's the Biggest, Highest, all the -ests that cld ever be! Don't they think He can do that Himself? I know He can, you can ask Job that. I also know He's not afraid of a man thinking or questioning even the most sacred of tenets. Y? Cos questioning doesn't change the truth. The truth may be in many shades, but it's usually jus one color. It never changes. So I'm not going to defend Him, but I will give my thoughts.
I agree with you that how you see your life is how it is, whether gift or curse. However, it doesn't change the fact that what it is is what it is, regardless of how you see it. Your view is just as incomplete as that of the 10 blind men who wanted to 'see' an elephant. As preposterous a that sounds, that adventure, and it erroneous conclusions, gave their lives some sort of meaning. It is impossible to stay in one position and imagine to av a comprehension of the entire spectrum. That is the only thing I personally think is wrong here. The picture in question is another fine example of how one opinion is not a good representation of the entire story, hence not enough to form strong opinion. (Forgive me, I studied law for 8years :D) for instance, I didn't know that the child got help, and EDJ (hope I got that right) did not know that the photographer eventually committed suicide. And I can bet my practicing certificate on the fact that neither you, nor the 9 of you have the complete picture of the entire events sorrounding the picture, before and after. Won't it be wrong, or even worse, futile, to engage in an entire debate on inconclusive facts? If we later find out that the child will grow up to become the first female leader in Sudan and that she legalizes cannibalism (lol), would we consider saving her life a gift or a curse? I'm jus wondering...

Rebirth said...

Life is a GIFT.......one of the reasons a new baby is highloy celebrated cuz as humans we know, even if we don't want to admit that it is a gift. that being said, this gift comes with choices and disappointments. circumstances abound, ish happens, not everything is fair
From the picture we can conclude that the girl and her family may no longer think it is a gift due to the circumstances surrounding them

God has given us all the gift of life and he has placed us in certain positions to help each other out, i can't answer for God as to why disasters, death, poverty, failure happens,but we have been bestowed this beautiful gift of Life and we have to make the best use of it

Anonymous said...

Cont.
To question what appears to be God's position on any matter at all, I think it would be best to take cognizance of ALL that He has done. And this is very possible. It just takes a little more effort than forming conclusions or suggesting one would take. Let me ask, the child that was sent to the best school, taught by the best teachers but failed the final exam that could have changed his/her life, would that child consider school, teachers or his father's wealth a gift or a curse? Why didn't the child's father, who paid the school fees, or the teacher, who's ability to impact wisdom will be questioned, write the exam for the child? No, I'm not agnostic either, I am a believer. My point is, do we tag something received by its eventual (relatively) outcome or the original intent...? Why ask my Father to do what I am, and should be doing? Saving that child is what good governance, selfless choices or a simple grant could have done. Natural disasters...? By natural, we mean nature, right? I'm sure we are all aware of the climate change theory... What do I do if you, a full grown adult, decide to take off the shock absorber in your brand new car? I love you, warned you severally, and even gave you examples of others that have towed your path, but yet, you use the one power I gave you (free will) to destroy urself. yet again I digress...

I was saying that truth is usually one color, right? Yep! The shade we visualize is dependent majorly on where we are standing. Now from my very brief experience on this earth, I av come to acknowledge that it is true that we only see in part. Even as I am seeing your question in part, I do not have the full facts, do I?

Woah..! Ok, its enough! Hehehe! I'd like to end with this though, I do not have the answers. I'm on a lifetime search, trying to grasp reasons and understand causes too. But one thing I do know. And that is that God is good and all he has given me, whether I asked for it or not, is good. But then again, I am only jaded by my experiences of Hi

Azazel said...

@ Realist
I did press it, he just never answered it. Kept giving me some runarounds..

@ Lalah
I doubt that the child served to draw attention to the problems in the region, how many sudanese kids have died since then?
Is Darfur even an issue anymore? A lot of kids are still dying and will continue to die.

@Nolimit
Fair point, u say that the child's situation is happening because good people have let bad people ruin the homeland of that child.
My question to u is this, what then makes a man or a woman good?
A bad man is capable of committing a good act, and a good man is capable of committing a heinous act.
Does one heinous act turn a good man into a bad man?
And does one charitable act turn a bad man into a good man?
I hope the questions make sense.

Azazel said...

@ yetitweets

Lol i had to dedicate one comment page to u..
I like the points you have made and they all seem to make sense to me.
Somepeople commenting on this post have started off thinking that life is a 'gift' at the birth stage and then circumstances around that birth might make it turn into a curse..

How about Life start as 'What it is' and then two crossroads are given to it. It can walk down the 'Life is a gift road' or it can walk down the 'Life is a curse road'. The road which it works down, can then inform us if the particular life given to that particular person was a curse.

Azazel said...

@yetitweets
Exactly @ Jaded by your experience with God
U say that God is a 'good' God..
A good God capable of 'evil' things.
Tell me yeti how many heinous acts must a man commit before he goes from being a good man to a bad/evil man?
2? three? 10?

Then ask urself how many heinous acts must a God commit before he goes from being a good God to an evil supernatural being???

@fums
.one of the reasons a new baby is highloy celebrated cuz as humans we know, even if we don't want to admit that it is a gift. that being said, this gift comes with choices and disappointments. circumstances abound, ish happens, not everything is fair

If u scroll down on the blog, u will see a post by Messiah on whether ur baby is going to hell. U should read it.
U say that babies are viewed by Humans as a gift. That is the human perspective, what is the Godly perception concerning babies?
Does he consider them as little blessings/gifts??
If yes, why would he smite all the first born male babies in Egypt over the sin of one man Pharoah?
Why would he smite dead the new born baby of David over the sins of his father, King David??

ZeeMayneZeeMayne said...

I was impressed while reading the introduction to this blog : they are a group of people who don’t just follow the crowd in their beliefs… there’s no better way than to experience stuff for yourself and come to your own conclusions, that way the TRUTH that you’ve found stays deeply rooted in you, come hell or high water.

And it the light of that I choose to make my contribution here, it comes from my conviction of who I’ve come to know God to be, and goes beyond what I heard he was or is :)

I’ve come to know that NOTHING happens by chance, everything that happens here is a reflection of something that has happened in the spiritual and everything is related to something.

So, I would have to trace a lot of today’s event to ze very beginning…

In the beginning when God created everything, he meant well. However, he also realized that it wasn’t just enough to have subjects who worshipped him and did his bidding; a perfect scenario would be when they did it by their choice. SO he added the “CHOICE” factor and we all know what Adam and Eve did with that CHOICE.

The world is in a mess because of the CHOICES we humans make on a day to day basis. The world was created to be good, that was the original design but what we have now is what we have CHOSEN.

This life is governed by rules and God is a God of order. When the world was created he put everything in MAN’s hand, he gave him dominion over everything, but man handed that dominion over to the devil, and the devil became the Prince of this world. God could have just stepped in at this time to put everything back into how it was, but he can’t break his own set rules, Man had to take this dominion back but couldn’t and that is why God in his mercy gave us Jesus, who still had to come AS a MAN, to take back that authority. And he did. So to REIGN in this life, and live in the original order that things were created to be in, enjoying its glorious benefits you would need to have the life of Christ in you.

Why does it look like God is doing nothing in our world today? :-

God acts in our world through you and me, he can’t bypass the order. So where you can make a change, be the hand of God and make that change, where you can’t, pray that God will send someone to be that change and he will put the need in someone’s heart in that place and he’ll use someone else.

Is Life a Gift? :-

Life is a gift from God. He had great things in mind for us and still does. We didn’t ask to be here, we just found ourselves here. But then, if the life you’ve come to know is not worth ringing the bell for, there is remedy. You might not have a hand in where you find yourself today, but once you realize it, seek the originator of the whole process and let him show you how to live the life as he intended it to be. And when you have found the way out, lead someone else to the one who showed you the way.

Azazel said...

@ Zee
Forgive me bro, but from ur comment when typing, u typed like someone who knew the intentions of God from first hand account.
But is the bible the basis for your comments or are u typing based on what God told u?

Aaron Oteze said...

Listen my man, life is a gift. period, never a curse. the thing is man (cos of his limitations) turns the positives into negatives. we abuse this gift and its the repercussions that become the curse. If u break a law, say the law of gravity and try to jump from a building would u blame God for ur broken leg or your stupidity. same goes for corruption, lust, avarice and on and on. They all have repercussions. Just as many innocent people enjoy from one man's wisdom thats how many innocent also suffer from one man's folly. Life is a gift. Use it right.

Anonymous said...

wat??? my comment did not show??? imma post it again! :p

Anonymous said...

@Azzy
By "life is what it is" do you mean "yet to be discovered?" If that's it, then I do not quite agree with you. I am actually questioning your line of reasoning. Are you defining whether life is a gift or cause by outcomes? The fallacy in that it this? Which outcome? Was Hitler's life a gift or a curse? To whom? Himself or the rest of the world? At wat point did his life become a gift/curse? How'z about Buddha? Mother Theresa? Theophilus Danjuma (who jus developed a conscience)? Barack Obama? Paul (formerly Saul)? Who determines the timing? Does it change from time/event to time/event? Surely one life can not be a gift to some and a curse to others! The use of the life may, but the life itself can only be one thing.

Then like someone said, what is a gift?
"Something that is bestowed voluntarily and without compensation."

"something given; a present"
a la www.thefreedictionary.com

So, if my understanding of English is still on point, you yourself have admitted in your intro that life is a gift. You had no say in it. You woke up one day and found yourself with life! lol!

But I know that's not what you mean... lol!

On good and bad, I'm afraid we have fundamental differences in opinion there. Good and bad to me, where humans are concerned, is a nature not an average of actions. Same goes for spiritual beings of which the Almighty is one. If we base good and bad on an average, who becomes the judge? Even statistics can only give the closest possible average (oops! I'm also a financial analyst)none is ever on point. there lies the dilemma. And we all know ow the tiniest decimal can sometimes be d diff btwn life and death, eternal or otherwise.

Anonymous said...

Cont.
Lik i said before, it would be an attempt in futility to analyse any given info on selected information. In finance (my words) its called hazardous guessing, emphasis on hazardous. You cannot judge God based on loose facts... If I were to meet you on the road pummeling a police officer to death and everyone looking at you, none trying to help the poor guy, I could conclude that y'all in your neighborhood are lawless, heartless unscrupulous citizens who have no respect for the law and thus none for law officers. I could also conclude that killing officers because they annoyed you is what y'all do on the regular hence the reason for the passive attitude of the bystanders. But maybe the police officer just shot your spouse in cold blood in front of all the onlookers. maybe the police officer in the past had raped your neighbor's daughter. maybe he's not a police officer but a criminal who just hit ur friend and crushed his skull on the granite. maybe... but I'd never know if I never ask you (not the bystanders who would not know the full story!) would i?

This is my point, you grouse is with God, go and ask him! Stop asking mere mortals like yourself who's frail minds only take a side view and make a religion out of it! If you get your answers from God, you wont be getting knowledge, you would be receiving a revelation! I tell u! I speak from experience!

PS: when I said i was jaded by my experience with Him, I meant this: I have willfully exposed myself to Him, hence I see it all, both the good experiences and the bad ones, through His shade or rose colored glasses.

And yes, I didnt say it before. I know life is a gift.

Anonymous said...

Just to follow the dictionary meaning of terms, I think what you really mean is 'IS LIFE A BLESSING OR A CURSE?' There's no corelation between it being a GIFT or a CURSE because like everyone said, a GIFT is something given to someone without the receiver's imput.

But having received the gift, you're now asking if it was well worth it or too much of a hassle to have had it in the first place.

First let me make an observation: I see controversial topics like an unserious fling and their originators full of mental energies that could have been channelled into more productive uses. Sorry, that's just my opinion.

Right, regarding the issue of life. Well, bless God we're all here...alive...talking about this issue...flexing our mental muscles hoping to win each other over or just win the argument whichever way right? Right.

Life is both a gift and a huge BLESSING. I support all the commenters FOR/PRO LIFE. Because some don't understand why we're here in the first place or God's masterplan for man, for life doesn't mean we can denigrate existence.

God had a plan and He handed it over to man. Man failed in executing that plan when he sold out to the devil. Since then, things went from good to worse.

I have often sat down and wondered why a man like Hitler would because of childhood issues develop a deep hatred for another race and cause the death of millions of people without so much as a shred of remorse, conscience.

What has God to do with that? God's original plan was to give man DOMINION and then stand back to watch him take care of the earth. He gave us FREE WILL and being a fair God, He doesn't go back on His promise. So with that free will, men have used it as they deem fit, killing each other.

You say why didn't God interfere? Did we ask Him to be part of our daily affairs? We kick God out of schools and wonder why our children turn into gun-totting criminals. We tell God back off then wonder why He doesn't interfere.

When I read the part where you said why should God bless a family with a child knowing fully well that they are poor. I said a huge 'OUCH!'

Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you? On the 7th day God finished His work regarding creation. Part of that includes 'Procreation'. Just as the irrefutable law of gravity, the law of procreation is in place.

It becomes our responsibility procreate or not. If the evil in men's heart make a nation unfit for it's citizens to live in peace, harmony and in the midst of plenty (Like Sudan), why blame God?

But then life becomes a blessing when You and I can help those in these dire straits. When you can be the conduit pipe for another's well being. When we can all join forces together to see that things work out for others.

Life remains the blessing it is when we live and let live. To answer your question regarding the little child in the picture, I am glad it's at a relief camp; glad that the world can see the photograph and rise up to help on way or the other; sad that the photographer, overwhelmed with grief, would take his own life.

I am glad that you posted this and I got a chance to read it, understand your thinking because I have been there too where nothing made sense. I am glad I get a chance to pray for you.

Thank you so much for being alive. There's HOPE.

Mo said...

This is a powerful picture, tears flow down my eyes as i looked at it. Yet, we must acknowledge that we as human have a limited understanding of events. What if beyond human apparent suffering there is eternal bliss? can we as human determine what is a curse? Trials are not enough of a measure? I believe life is meant to test our ability to live with a purpose and a precusor of what we will find out beyond death.

JA said...

If life is a gift, I would like to return it to the giver cause I can't handle it anymore. Thanks but no thanks.