Reflections on Life and Faith,
by David Keating

God Must be Busy

January 26, 2008

"God Must Be Busy" is the title of a Brooks and Dunn song. It's not a very positive song to be honest, even though they do throw in a line about how prayers work. Most of the lyrics are a litany of the things that are wrong around, seemingly, every corner we turn. And they're still wrong when the song ends.

Just like in life.

I've never been one to subscribe to the "God is punishing us" point of view. Nor to the "this is hell" theory. Or even to the "everything happens for a reason" philosophy. Those are comforting to some people I realize but for me it just requires way too much time wearing a blindfold.

What I mean by that is that if you think God is punishing people for doing something wrong, you have to try to justify why children are born with serious illnesses or handicaps. I know people who use the "visiting the iniquities unto the seventh generation" dodge. Which means that some child is born with a fatal illness because great great great great grandma worked upstairs in a saloon in the wild west. Sorry, anyone who thinks that's an example of God's Grace just leaves me a little cold.

That everything happens for a reason lost any tiny bit of credibility it might have had with me when my sons' mother died in a car accident. When I tried to use this reasoning with my three year old son the words stuck in my mouth. I knew that they didn’t have anything to do with a God who bestows endless compassion on Creation.

As to the "this is hell" crowd, I have to admit that I have some sympathy for this point of view. There are literally billions of people who are trapped in lives of physical and emotional torment. From the homeless thousands on the streets of North American and European cities to the millions dying in third world countries; from those abandoned in institutions to those abandoned in abusive relationships. All around us there are people who live a life that they would describe, if not as hell, then as something very close to it.

And like the hell of the Bible, there is no escape. At least not on their own. And God, as Brooks and Dunn note, seems to be busy.

Which leaves it up to you and me.

Now, I realize that's a bit scary. We're not, after all, God. We don't even have superpowers like Clark Kent or Wonder Woman. We're not invulnerable or super strong. And we're not faster than a speeding bullet, which might make it at least possible for us to consider helping out. After all, many of us are running full tilt as it is aren't we?

In spite of all of that, every time I open the paper or walk down the street, I bump into the hands of God in action. From volunteers for a multitude of charities, to donations for the victims of disaster, to the passerby who throws a few coins in a hat; from the doctor or nurse who spends their vacation in an impoverished village instead of a tropical resort to the men and women who put themselves between the warlords and the villagers, building schools while dodging bullets; God is out there, helping to get people out of hell.

Sometimes we have trouble recognizing this God. This God tends to look a lot like the people around us. This God doesn't use too many thunderbolts. And instead of throwing people into a lake of fire, this God spends a lot of time reaching out to pull people out of it. Even when it means getting a little singed in the process.

Thank you God for being so busy.

David Keating