Readers Write: Good and evil are choices we all make

The Island Now

With all the incidents of terror, around the world and in our own country, it’s only natural that some people might ask, “Why does God allow the slaughter of innocent people?”

I’ve come to realize that it’s not up to God to allow or disallow man made tragedies.  

For better or for worse, God gave mankind free will.  Each of us gets to choose to do good or to do evil.  

We all know the expression:  “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

It’s up to each one of us to make the world a place of compassion and justice.  Each of us needs to look in the mirror and ask, “What have I done today to improve the world?”  

What have I done to help the widow, the orphan, and the stranger?   

Was I there when my neighbor needed my help?  Have I spoken out against hatred and bigotry and injustice? 

What have I done to help those burdened with hunger and homelessness?  

Did I help the refugee or did I turn my back and say it’s someone else’s job?

A story is told about a righteous man who set out on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem seeking God.  

As he traveled, he came across other pilgrims—some were crippled, some had been beaten and persecuted by the authorities, some had to beg for food, some wore rags instead of clothes.

Seeing all of this, the righteous man cried out, “Merciful God, how is it that a loving Creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?”    

After a long silence, God answered.  “I did do something about them.  I made you.”

David Golbert

Great Neck

 

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