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Writer's pictureThe Rev. Beth Knowlton

The Mystery of Life in God

Job said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” Job 1:21


This week, twelve years ago, my daughter and I were in a very serious car accident. In the earliest moments after the crash, I was not sure whether she would survive. She was airlifted by helicopter for emergency care and it was by far the most frightening experience of my life. Thankfully, she was okay. 


I was overwhelmed by gratitude. 


And, I was surprised by the things people said to me—all with the best of intentions. People who loved and cared about us speculated that we had been preserved for a future purpose. Some referred to my vocation as if it had somehow insulated us from harm. As well-meaning and kind as those statements were, I never felt like they rang true for me. I knew too many other people that had experienced tragedy. My own niece had experienced a traumatic brain injury in a similar kind of accident. I suffered no illusion that there was a different level of care that God had for any of us. So what was I to make of this miraculous event? I started thinking about the capriciousness of grace—and the great mystery of life in God.


It is a very slippery slope to start speculating about being saved by God in a moment—when so many others suffer tragic and terrible fates. We believe that God saves us spiritually over the full course of our lives. Experiences have the power to remind us of our reliance on God. Redemption is present and available to us. I have experienced it, and I suspect you have as well. But being reminded that we are created and loved by God, does not make us able to fully apprehend the mystery of our lives.


If we believe that God has created us all in God’s image, we have to believe that we are universally loved and cared for by our Creator. We don’t get to pick and choose who is beloved by God and who is not. It can be challenging, for sure. There are people that test our limits, but that does not make it any less true. If I fully believe myself to be beloved, I have to proclaim that same mysterious act of grace is available to all that I meet. God has redeemed me fully, the good and the bad. The same grace is offered to all.


The phrase from scripture that kept coming to me during that summer after the accident was this text from Job. Early on in that saga, Job has had everything taken away. His helpful friends and neighbors assume that he will turn on God. Instead, Job accedes to the great mystery that is our life. Life begins and ends in God. It is a mystery we cannot possibly understand, and when we bless God we remind ourselves that we are not God.


It is human and appropriate to offer thanksgiving to God when we have a near death experience or feel like we have a renewed lease on life. But, as people of faith we also need to be careful about having the hubris to speculate as to what God’s role in that experience is for specific individuals or events. God has given us free will and placed us within a natural world that has physical properties at work in our day-to-day existence. God’s promise is that God will be present in each and all of those moments, regardless of outcome. We proclaim a God that redeems all things, not one that prevents all bad things. 


The Lord gives. The Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.


Peace, Beth +

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