How Open and Relational Theology Helps Me on Hard Days

Photo by Sasha Freemind on Unsplash

The world is full of grief.

Wars. Famine. Cancer. Divorce. Detentions. Deportations. Homelessness. Addictions. Injustice.

Me and my fellow writers at The Backyard Church have written about all of these things recently. All of which produce shock, denial, anger, and sorrow toward God.

We’ve grieved the tragedy of the events, but we’ve also grieved the loss of our ideas of God. Who is this deity we worship?

If God were good, loving, and omnipotent, then how could God allow so much pointless pain, random suffering, and abject unfairness? Every person of faith must reckon with this question and arrive at some kind of answer.

Why Does God Permit Suffering?

With poetic insight, Dan Foster reflects on how his wife’s battle with cancer, the death of their close friend from the same cancer, and other tragedies have served to remind him of the peace of God’s presence.

Bri-anne Swan settles where many Christians find themselves. Yes, the world is full of suffering, but people’s (mis)use of free will causes the suffering. The Christian God suffers and grieves along with us. We are not alone. We have a loving God’s presence to sustain us.