God is in control. No matter what happens, no matter how awful or awesome, no matter who suffers or comes out on top, it’s all God’s plan. Ain’t it grand?!
Sorry, I don’t buy it.
Consider this: God creates Adam and Eve, drops them into this magical garden where they romp through fields of flowers with no cares in the world—got that picture?
Okay, so then almost immediately, they screw it all up by eating that damn apple…O. M. G.!
Personally, if I were going to be cast into the eternal fires of hell for such a minor transgression, I would have held out for Amedei Chocolates – but that’s just me.
You may have thought God knows everything, but according to this story, he clearly doesn’t. As the drama continues, they run and hide, knowing full well they’re in deep trouble and this will not end well for them.
AND… here he comes…the God of the universe, the master control freak, the ultimate planner of all that is.
They all play hide and seek, and God is “it”. “Come on out, you crazy kids. Where are you? I’m gonna look in these bushes now.”
When he finally finds them, he demands they stand before him in their underwear as he brushes off their attempts to beg for forgiveness. Nope. Ain’t happening. He admonishes them for screwing up his perfect plans, then sends them off to suffer a living hell forever and ever.
Then he gets his second wind, “Oh, I’m not finished with you!”
Now, God’s totally exasperated as he acknowledges the failure of his painstaking and grand plan for the universe. He decides to make an example of Adam and Eve. Their sins will be cast upon every child born thereafter, stamped with the seal of “broken mess” right out of the birth canal.
Maybe then all of humanity will get wind of it, surrender to his will, submit to his “laws”, and behave accordingly. Nope – another big fail. He decides to start over with new characters – maybe reconsidering that whole free will thing – Nope!
Is all this working for you? How about this: “The biblical story of the perfect and finished creation from which we human beings have fallen into “original sin” is pre-Darwinian mythology and post-Darwinian nonsense.” John Shelby Spong
Let me throw another random thought into the discussion: instead of God being a harsh, unyielding authoritarian, what if he were actually submissive? What if he has been surrendering to us all along? What if he never intended to control us? What if that whole Adam & Eve story was just that – a myth created by some inane humans long ago? Stay with me here.
As a child, I was controlled by my mother. She called the shots; she meted out harsh punishments. Ultimately, she determined my worth. As I grew older, she still had power over me. Unworthiness was so embedded in my heart that I continued for years to live out of the belief that I didn’t deserve love – from anyone – especially God. He clearly didn’t care. If he did, I reasoned, he would have saved me from her and others who abused me long ago.
I recall crying out to him in one of my most painful moments of doubt about his love for me: “God, if you loved me, why did you allow my mother and others to abuse me? He spoke into the most broken part of my heart, “Linda, I do love you. When you were being abused, I cried with you. Because of their free will, some people make terrible choices that hurt themselves and others. You have sometimes done the same, but I have never stopped loving you.”
Jesus was the beloved son of God. That we know. God watched the unfolding of his three-year mission. That we also know. Jesus went to him constantly in prayer. We can be pretty sure they discussed how he was making a lot of enemies who were making threats against him in an effort to shut him up. When that didn’t work, they went after him and dragged him to the cross to be crucified. He was beaten and hung there for three hours before he died. WHERE WAS GOD? He was right there suffering the pain and heartache of his son’s death. Something he could not control. Why?
Archibald Macleish offers these powerful words, “Man depends on God for all things: God depends on man for one. Without man’s love, God does not exist as God, only as creator, and love is the one thing no one, not even God himself, can command. It is a free gift, or it is nothing. And it is most itself, most free, when it is offered in spite of suffering, of injustice, and of death. Love – love of life, love of the world, love of God, love in spite of everything – is the answer, the only possible answer, to our ancient human cry against injustice. It is in man’s love that God exists and triumphs, in man’s love that life is beautiful, in man’s love that the world’s injustice is resolved. To hold together in one thought those terrible opposites of good and evil which struggle in the world is to be capable of life, and only love will hold them so.”
If you believe God is this powerful controller of all things, why did he not save his own son? I’m going to leave you with that question to ponder during this blessed season of Lent.
PASSION, PURPOSE & POOPYHEADS 
