Haven't posted anything for a while - with good reason.
let me explain - why
Some of us oldies might remember - there was in the mid 70's a classic poster for sale! It was born out from the Anti-war movement and summed up neatly everything the people felt at the time! hmm lets see if I canfind it on the Inter-web-thingie and add here.Basically it just asked one question - WHY?????
Why me?
Why now?
Why do I have to die - here?
Why was I fighting here in the first place?
Why, why, why
It is a bit easy to ask this question when things go a little bit awry and lets face it - your own premature death is a bit more then just going awry! Right?! Loved the poster - even If I have not seen it for a long while.
Anyhow
In the book of Job (urm - yes - that book in the Old Testament) Job is a solid character who, not due to his own fault, - gets "tested" by God and passes the test - with flying colours!
Ha - thats a very simple version of what's written.
I do remember one of the main themes being an investigation of the problem of divine justice. This problem, known in theology as theodicy, can be rephrased as a question: "Why do the righteous suffer?"
The conventional answer in ancient Israel was that God rewards virtue and punishes sin (the principle known as "retributive justice").
This assumes a world in which human choices and actions are morally significant, but experience demonstrates that suffering cannot be sensibly understood as a consequence of bad choices and actions, and unmerited suffering requires theological candour.
O R
as a friend of mine more simply put it - 'why do bad things happen to good people????'
I don't know the answer - I do know that when I took my son into hospital with a fever and Flu-symptoms and after some initial tests was transferred into the BMTU - the Bone Marrow Transfer Unit - and after some more tests, the Diagnosis came back with - Acute Myeloiod Leukaemia (AML) - and our world came crashing down.
I can't imagine what Michael is/has been going through! For us it was a nightmare that lasted the first few days, then the time and days began passing like a ship sailing through thick fog.
Naturally it would be easy to ask the above posted question - why???
Why me?
Why now?
Why my son??
What have we done to deserve this?
It may seem odd - yet neither myself or Mamabear ever actually asked the 'why' question! This, by the way, does not make us some mythical saint or foolish arrogant idiot!
There just never seemed a point to ask that question. After all - what would be the point?
Wailing or railing against the perceived injustice dished out to us does not get us anywhere - and not that we are Angles at the best of times anyhow.
It would be a waste of time. Besides - I'm with Job on this one - God gives and God takes. Our favorite mantra being - "shit happens - deal with it"!
I must admit that for the first week or so, it was super-hard - or as "Sam" in
So the day after the news came through about Michaels condition, we took a deep breath, got out of bed and put one foot in front of the other - then took another step, and another and so forth.
In other words - we are dealing with the 'shit'! Not that it is easy - far from it!
The daily nightmare continues . . . and will continue for some months yet.
The best part is that we have some good friends and with the support from these we seem to cope a whole lot better. It helps when you know that some people care for you and are offering practical help!
Job also had friends and when they came to support him in his crisis, the sentiments very much was like - 'you must have done something to deserve this!'. Thankfully we have moved on from the retributive justice theology and are more into the 'everyone is loved no matter what' Theology.
Currently there is a advertisement doing the rounds on TV - from Rebel Sport - asking "what is your why? It highlights the plight of one of New Zealand's Rugby Players and the huge adversity he overcame, to become an All Black.
It then goes on to ask - "what is your Why????" Meaning - what's your reason for doing whatever goal / achievement you have set? (with a bit of help from the sports store of course)
The other favorite maxim of mine is - "Tomorrow is another day - the sun will rise again and shine!".
No matter how bad things seem today - tomorrow is another day . . . .
No matter to the why, no matter to the how bad - the sun will shine again tomorrow!
Now there is a thought worth holding on to!
So Rebel Sport - I guess - that is my "why"
- and to toss in another super slogan - I'm with Nike on this one -
Have fun!
