The question of Life – I think the way to approach it is dispassionately and know you will never have the real answers. Every religious tradition has an answer that addresses this question, some in agreeable and some in disagreeable ways. The Navajo Indians are the only Native Americans who do not have a rain dance. They have a dance to bring them in harmony with drought. I think it is also important to learn how other cultures answer this question and ponder it in your heart. I thought I would. I am a pragmatist and intuitive and here is part of my answer.
Why is it that we see good people suffering and bad people thriving and enjoying life?
First of all, keep perspective.
We are only seeing the one day of their lives. There is a parable (Buddhist, I think) about a poor man who owned a beautiful horse. They had been raised almost as companions. One day the king came and offered the poor man more money than he had ever seen to buy the horse. The man said “He is a friend. You do not sell a friend”
The villagers were shocked, as was the king. The next day, the horse ran away. All the people said, “You stupid old man!!! Now see you stupid man! Now you have no money and no horse” The man said, “do not say it is good or bad. Just say I had a horse and now he is gone.
A few days later, the horse returned, as the leader of a herd of wild horses. Now all the people said ‘Man you were right and so wise. Now you richer than you ever dreamed”
The man said, “Do not say it is good or bad. Just say I had a horse and now he is back”. Later while the man’s son was shoeing the horses one of them kicked him and broke his leg in many parts, so he would always be crippled. Once again, the people said, “Man we’re right again, now your son is lame. All the wealth in the world can’t make his leg straight”. The man said, “Do not say it is good or bad. Just say that my son could walk and now he is lame”
Years passed the country went to war. It was ill begotten war and the country was losing it. Desperate for soldier, the army came and took all able bodied men, they left the lame son. In grief of losing their own sons, the people said” Man, you are so wise. Now you have your sons and we have lost our. The old man said. “Do not say you have lost your sons. Just say that your sons were here and now they are gone”
Grief, sadness and loss come to all people rich or poor…
It’s easier to hide it in a Mansion. There is a parable about a poor widow who after losing her young husband, also lost her small baby. So she went to Buddha and said “You are a great healer. Make my baby live again. Buddha Looked at her and said, “That make take some time. Would you to go to all the houses in the village and get me some mustard seed from a home where no one has ever died.” so she did.
She went to every house in the village and when it came time for here to see Buddha again, he said ‘”Well?”
“There is no house in the village where no one has ever died.” “Don’t take death personally, Buddha said, and from that day on, she became a follower, seeking that which never dies.
On a lighter note, Mark Twain, a very famous American Humorist once remarked, “Do you know why people rejoice at a birth and cry at a funeral? Because they are not the ones involved, that’s why”
People make bad choices, rich or poor
Who goes on holiday in the typhoon season? The very thing happened to me last weekend. I was crossing the street on the way to church, when I tripped on a crack on the road. I was wearing old shoes in Belfast where there are many uneven surfaces and I know better than that.
I was pretty shook up (I fell forward on my hands and knees and kind of went onto a little shock). I had been having internal debate with myself all day about whether or not I belonged to that church so….
That Monday, I called the Dr. and to my surprise, instead of a 2 week wait, I got an appointment that day. It seems my limbs were fine, but in the course of examining my neck, the Dr. found an unusual largish lump in the back of my neck and was quite concerned.
“You had a lucky fall,” He said,” that limp could have been there for years before we caught it.”
So I think an angel tripped me.
Some rich people see their money as a validation for their lives
It gives them an excuse to look down on those less fortunate. I can’t think of anything sadder that that fact. They can have no friends because they suspect every one’s motives. They can’t enjoy in a friends good fortune because they are secretly jealous.
If you get a chance to get this video, get it.
It is the 1951 Black and White version of Charles Dickens Christmas Carol. The acting is pretty hokey from a modern standard (melodrama) but interesting to history of acting POV. But my favourite scene is when the Ghost of Christmas Present shows to Scrooge, a poor woman, holding a baby with no place to go. All around her are the ghostly images of rich people rich people chained to their boxes of money, throwing their money at her. But it is too late for them.
Sometimes you are just in the wrong place, at the wrong time
I myself have survived 2 attacks, both potentially murderous. Why me? Well, part of it might be that predators like that look for those who look vulnerable. In the US small dark women of colour are less likely to report attacks because of the cultural stigma coupled with fear of the police. There’s a factor against me. Also, because the landlord did not do his job by fixing a broken door/window and did not tell me. Then again, I didn’t ask.
Sometimes you are just a statistic.
Meta-physicists believe that 3% of the universe is chaos and its randomness is UNKNOWABLE. I had a reading the last week with a woman who’s best friend son (10) had died in his sleep, for no apparent reason. It reminded me of the time that my husband and I were at the Monterrey Biological Science Museum. They had a huge replica of the heart, of the facts about how many times it will beat and average beats per minute, hour and lifetime. Then we read. ‘Yet sometimes the heart just stops and we don’t know why. It is random and happens. -I don’t remember- how many times a year. Standing there with him as the enormity of what we were learning soaked in, it was like were frozen in a moment of eternity amidst those cold gray walls. Sometimes, you are just a statistic.
Now you know my parables for each one of my bold faced statements and I hope it helps you to know them.
