As you know by now, Haiti was hit by a major earthquake earlier this week. Since then, President Obama has been very committed to ensuring that American forces and relief agencies are working overtime on the frontlines in providing the necessary aid to this devastated area. As the relief efforts continue, the early projections are that over 50,000 people may have lost their lives.
Many of us may know people who have been affected by this tragedy. I personally have friends who live and/or have been working down in Haiti. I've had the privilege of ministering down there in 1988 and 1998 as a part of the Free Methodist Church. During that most recent trip in '98, I worked alongside Jack and Jeanne Acheson-Munos. They have since gone back to Haiti as full-time missionaries, to work along with our other close friends, Greg and Gail Ennis (with whom we just had dinner last Friday evening).
During the most recent update I received from the Free Methodist World Missions Department, it was reported that Jack Munos was stuck under the rubble for over six hours. He has suffered multiple broken bones and has since been flown to Guantanamo Bay for surgery and on to Miami. Unfortunately, Jeanne (pictured here) has yet to be found, as are a few other FM missionaries. The situation is dire.
This is just one of the countless stories of both American citizens and Haitian nationals who have been affected by this catastrophe. And the inevitable question is, "Where is God in all of this?" Reconciling natural disasters with the notion of a loving God is difficult at best. We can blame it all on God, or simply chalk it up to the natural order of things, depending on our beliefs. As much as we may want to blame God, it is difficult to know how to deal with these kinds of unbelievable tragedies without God.
I was listening to Dennis Miller's radio program today where they were discussing these very issues. He admitted that he was struggling with this question as well. A caller from Arkansas called in and made the point that we often talk about these kinds of things as being "an act of God." He suggested that we should instead be acknowledging that this kind of tragedy is an act of nature. An act of God, on the other hand, is how we respond to this tragedy. Interestingly, the caller's perspective seemed to resonate with Dennis and he acknowledged that "it gave him a toehold" for beginning to reconcile where God is in a place like Haiti.
There will be ample time to conjecture, and many people have already begun their analysis into the meaning of this tragedy. For now, it is imperative that those of us who are inclined to pray, continue to lift up all of those affected by the earthquake. And all of us can look for ways to offer assistance in what will be a massive relief effort. 
UPDATE: One of our TDD readers passed along this information about how you can help: Compassion International, United Methodist Committee on Relief, former President Bill Clinton's foundation, and this article over at FOX News provides some of the means of support. Thanks for the heads-up, Emily. Also, here is a link to the Free Methodist World Missions.
in these types of disasters, and perhaps you don't need me to point out, but it seems to stare us in the face that, if the god of the bible exists, he could have prevented this.
surely the standard christian thinking that it is a fallen world, full of sin, and these disasters are a consequence of that don't really seem good enough.
they never did to me --- it always seemed like a cop out.
a loving all-powerful god *ought not* let these kinds of things happen.
this is the old problem of evil, of course.
but just because it's something humans have been wrestling with for 20,000 years or more doesn't mean it's not a valid problem:
an omnipotent, omnicient god who would allow 45,000 people to be killed in one violent act of nature is, by definition, not loving.
indifferent, or even mean, but not loving.
surely it's easier in the end to simply accept that such a god is actually not there than it is to think the bible is wrong about him being loving?
Posted by: chris corwin | January 15, 2010 at 11:18 AM
It seems that you are assuming that having life taken from you is not loving. In many circumstances it is not, but is that true for all circumstances? Those who support euthanasia would say the opposite. Furthermore, one could argue, if they were inclined to, that for many people living in such impoverished conditions, death is merciful. I don't know that I believe that; I'm still thinking on it. But, for example, my friend Jeanne whom I presume is dead (and who had dedicated the remaining years of her life to helping the poor in Haiti) was a committed Christian. As painful as her absence might be to the rest of us, as a Christian she actually wins in the end. Does the taking of her life in what you seem to be calling an "act of God" mean that God is somehow unloving toward her or her husband, Jack? Just something to ponder...
Posted by: John | January 15, 2010 at 11:29 AM
John,
Equating impoverished living to the kind of suffering that some use to justify euthanasia is obscene. I don't think you really mean that, as it isn't in the usual spirit of your postings.
We could use the same logic to say God prolongs the life and enhances the prosperity of wealthy, well-fed people simply because they're not physically suffering.
Grand-scale disasters like this don't operate on a per-person basis. They take life indiscriminately based on where the person was located rather than how they lived their lives. Plenty of relatively affluent people died, including missionaries, international aid workers and UN officials.
When the 2005 tsunami struck Thailand, an American teacher at a Christian International School in my hometown told his students God was punishing Thailand because of its tolerance toward homosexuals. The scary thing is that he had no trouble finding biblical support for this.
While your comment is extremely benign compared to his, I still think it's treading on dangerous ground. I realize it was a hypothetical in response the previous post, but it sort of broke my heart when I read it.
Regardless of how or whether we consider the possibility of a deity, let's not even suggest that that Being is using terrible disasters to euthanise entire communities or to dole out indiscriminate judgment because they treat homosexuals like the humans they are.
Posted by: Derek | January 16, 2010 at 02:22 PM