WHEN Bad Things Happen to Good People

Shortly after a horrifying battle in one war-torn land, where thousands of women and children had been slaughtered; thereafter, being buried in a mass grave surrounded by markers, the following inscription on each marker was found: “Why?” What a painful question this is for the survivors of a tragedy: “why”? It is most often asked sadly when war, disaster, disease, or crime takes their innocent loved ones, destroying their lives, or brings them untold suffering in other ways, such as extreme poverty, or living in a war-torn country, or under a cruel dictatorship. These ones need to know why such tragedies have befallen them.

Julia,[1] a 32-year-old woman in the United States, was known as the most loving and caring neighbor anyone could ever desire. She was a hardworking mother and a loving wife. Then, what seemed like a cold (a viral infection) just would not…