"The Las Vegas Strip was packed and buzzing. Nearly 20,000 people milled about the Route 91 Harvest Festival that October night, singing with country music star Jason Aldean, the festival’s final performer. High above the crowd, a 64-year-old former auditor, Stephen Paddock, looked down from the Mandalay Bay Hotel. He visited Vegas often, living eighty miles northeast of the city, and casino hosts knew him by name. Placing “Do Not Disturb” signs on adjacent rooms, the ex-auditor moved to the windows of the hotel’s thirty-second floor, smashed them with a hammer, and began spraying bullets into the crowd below.In the next ten minutes, Paddock pulled the triggers of twenty guns and fired at least 1,100 rounds. Fifty-eight people died; 851 were injured. Thousands of survivors are still traumatized long after the deadliest mass shooting by an individual in the United States.
Many asked questions in the aftermath. Where was God? Why didn’t God stop the shooting? And does it make sense to believe God cares for everyone?
Many people think God had the power to prevent the Las Vegas shooting, its deaths, injuries, and resulting trauma. They think God could have warned officials, temporarily paralyzed the gunman, jammed the rifles, or redirected every bullet flying 400 yards. They assume God has the ability to do just about anything.
After the shooting, some “explained” why God failed to stop the tragedy. “There’s a higher purpose in this,” they said. Others appealed to mystery: “We just can’t understand God’s ways.”
The president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Russell Moore, captured the thoughts of many. “We do not know why God does not intervene and stop some tragedies when he does stop others,” said Moore. “What we do know, though, is that God stands against evil and violence. We know that God is present for those who are hurting.”
Really?
If God stands against evil and violence, why doesn’t God stop them? Does God’s desire to be “present for those who are hurting” trump God’s desire to protect? Does God allow death and injury because He’s needy, desperate for attention, or wanting to feel useful?
Where is God in the midst of tragedy, abuse, and other evil? " TJO
And to get the answer to that question... you need to read the book. I guess coming across a book entitled "God Can't" will mess anyone up just trying to process those two words. I know it did for me... but those two words invited me on a journey that I am glad I went on.
"Personal tragedy and unnecessary suffering prompt us to seek beliefs more helpful than the ones we’ve been handed." TJO
I don't want this blog post to be a rehash of all the unhelpful theology I was taught in the past when it came to dealing with the ugliness of this world. But Oord was right... it was tragedy that sent me looking for better answers than the ones I was given.
It was the evening of the day that my nephew died. Family and a few friends had gathered at the farm. It was inevitable in the aftermath of such a tragedy, that some of those questions would surface. I heard them that night. The "Why's" and then the supposed justifications for the event. No one actually admitted that night that the only justification for the event was the actions of the humans involved in the story. Somehow, God had to be involved. Even if the words weren't being spoken, they most likely were being thought. It was the culture we all grew up in. God was somehow responsible for what happened. We had to hold him accountable for our pain and loss. Because we all believed that "God can!"
"In light of suffering, we ask challenging questions and seek believable answers. We want to make sense of evil, love, freedom, pain, randomness, healing ... and God.
We want to understand." TJO
It has been three years since the accident that took the life of one of the most precious people of my life. The pain has dulled, the fog has cleared and there is an aching reminder of that day that resides in my memory. My faith was shattered and is still not rebuilt in the way it used to be.
"You and I aren’t the first to ask these questions. But the answers you’ll get in this book are different from what you’ve heard. It’s a safe bet, in fact, this book’s ideas will change you. You’ll think differently." TJO
And they did. I don't want to share too much of those "answers" here. This is a book of self-discovery. It was a journey to help me through a painful time in my life. It may have not given me all the answers I had hoped for, but it helped me to ask different questions, and that was the freeing process for me.
If "God Can't": if that much is true... then maybe the way to a relationship with the Creator or at least, a better understanding of the Creator, is to ditch the false expectations and illusions I have. This book was a good start for that journey.
"I wrote this book for you.
Our stories — yours and mine — matter. They portray the reality of our lived experience. We must face reality with clear-eyed honesty if we want to heal, love, and believe. Being honest about the past can open us to a better future." TJO