The following is an excerpt from the blog of Deacon Lex. He speaks insightfully to the heartache of suffering and of God's presence.
Monkey Butt
If
God really loves us so much why does he allow bad things to happen?
*
Before retiring,
I worked at Hackensack
University Medical
Center. At least once
each day I would ride the elevator in The Tomorrows Children Building.
Frequently I would share that elevator with young children who were very sick.
One day I stepped into the elevator with a young boy, about five years old, and
his mother. He was in a motorized wheelchair and appeared to be paralyzed from
the neck down ─ a condition that I assumed had been present from birth. He was
unable to speak but could mouth words that his mom could understand. I was
overcome by a feeling of pity for him and his mother; and in my head I started
asking a recurring question, Why God? Why do you let such suffering exist?
I was
distracted from my thoughts by the laughter of the boy’s mother. She giggled to
her son, “No, you’re a monkey butt!” His eyes were bright with laughter as he
mouthed the words back to her, “No, you’re a monkey butt!” The playful
bantering between this mother and child, who obviously loved each other very
much, kept up as she wheeled him off the elevator and to whatever
life-sustaining treatment he was getting that day.
As I stood alone
in the elevator I realized that I had been in the presence of God. God was very
much there in the flow of love that went between that mother and child. No
matter how much pain and anguish lived in that mother’s heart, no matter how
debilitated that little boy was, their hearts were totally open to each other,
open wide enough to allow themselves to share the gift of laughter and
silliness. God was present in the center of the cross that was shared by that
mother and child, just as surely as he is present in the center of the cross
that hangs over our parish altar. Our loving God is with us in the midst of all
the bad things, all the suffering we experience.
And in
witnessing that scene and experiencing that presence of God between mother and
child, I can almost understand why God permits suffering.
The bad things
that happen and the suffering that exists in life are locked in a moment in
time. But God, as well as each one of our immortal souls, is timeless; yet God
is with us here in time, holding our hand through the suffering. Some day, when
we are free of the limits of our human existence, all the pain and suffering
will somehow make sense.
If we could see
eternity and the timeless love that awaits us with God, the sufferings that we
witness and endure here in life might more easily be understood. God is so good
to us that he shows us his face in the suffering. All we have to do is look;
all we have to do is listen. God is present in the simplicity of the wind. God
is present even in the silliness and the laughter of a word like "monkey butt."
By Deacon Lex
Deaconlex.blogspot.com
Bathroom finished with everything back in place . . . and a few new things as well. Whew!
So far so good. He's actually 
