I take it as part of human nature that we interpret the world through signs and symbols, and those of us with religious faith see events and images in the world as signifying the divine. We are also dangerously prone to see signs of God where none exist and, therefore, to draw dangerously false conclusions about God. I received an email today containing a picture of ruins in Haiti in which a crucifix stood unmoved and undamaged after the earthquake. A caption accompanying the picture stated that God had left this crucifix standing as a sign that he remains in control. I can fully appreciate needing to take comfort in God’s presence amidst an overburdening tragedy and needing to find great hope in small comforts, but this well-meaning caption has it all wrong.
God didn’t leave the crucifix standing anymore than he left thousands to die horribly. I know this because the God I know doesn’t value a man-made image of himself more than he values those he made in his image and likeness. It makes no sense to say that God allowed a work of art to survive amidst mass death as a sign of his control. To say such a thing implies that God cares more for stone structures than for human life, more for signifying his control than for signifying his love. The truth is that God is not some cosmic engineer keeping the whole system in balance while disasters strike from left and right. God’s presence in the world isn’t so much that of control as that of love and shared suffering. He was present during the Haitian earthquake, but not in the undamaged crucifix. He was present in the heartbreak and the loss, in the struggles to survive and the impossible goodbyes, in every prayer and tear, broken body, writhing face, and suffering breathe. He was there in love and in truth, weeping with all those who cried out in horror and confusion. God may be in control, but not because he controls the system. He’s in control because he’s in love, and he is lovingly and therefore powerfully involved in this messy and disastrous world. (VN)
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