Always from too many perspectives

There are lots of reasons why we are not the ones who get to judge how things are going. There are lots of reasons why the direction and the quality of things is not in our power to decide. Those are the same reasons why God suggested we should not be the ones to eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. We may now know what they are but we can not say which is which.

We cannot say and are not the ones to make the judgements because we don't know the end yet. In a discussion not long ago some one remarked about a museum finally reopening an exhibit of marble ruins. "You better see them quickly because they are still falling apart. The "best wisdom for restitution at the time" turned out to be absolutely horrible and they are decaying rapidly." Our best now maybe turn out later to be our worst. What is bad now may ended up being the best thing for us. We have not seen it all yet so it is hard to know how to judge a story till we see how it ends.

We are invited to "glorify God and enjoy Her forever" and leave the judging to God because we don't know the whole story yet. Because we have real trouble keeping in proper relationship the big picture and the little pictures. Do I judge life on the basis of my own experiences. Do I celebrate and rave about the goodness of life because my first grandson has been born healthy and well? Do I look at my life and say with arrogance "God is Good. All the Time." Are the judgments about good and evil to be made from my small perspective? What I have seen and lived has been good.

But the little picture of others is not nearly as wonderful and blessed as mine has been. But then again, is it my mistake to make that judgment? I do not know how they see their own lives. But I do know that others have commented on their personal pictures and have cursed the darkness.

Those are but pieces of the picture that must be included for there is a big picture of world history, of hunger in Africa, wars in the Middle East, airplane crashes, and a host of other major concerns. Those apparent negatives would have to be matched by major positives, efforts to cure AIDS, the elimination of polio, the rise in health conditions in various countries. There have been major positives that have to be considered.

How do you decide who is good and who is evil? How do you say that you life is a blessing or a curse? When do you make the judgment? How do you weigh all of the events. In the end, it seems all I can do is just bear witness as to what has happened in my own life. The world God has created has made available to me a good and blessed life, and I am grateful to a merciful God.