This sermon is being written as I sit here on the first day of Spring, watching the snow fall. Our pilgrim fathers firmly believed that meteorological events were messages from god, expressing his anger or approval (usually anger, as it turned out)for the actions of man here on Earth. This attitude lives on. Witness the fact that Pat Robertson opined that Hurricane Katrina was god’s response to gay marriage.
So, I have decided to address myself to this issue: Why is god, if god there is, inflicting this never ending winter on us? What is he (ladies, I am cutting you a break here) trying to tell us. As I’ve noted in the past, I am uniquely qualified to address these deep theological questions, having earned a degree in theology from the nuns at Our Lady of Sorrows Grammar School.
First, let’s consider the basics. Given the western tradition of theology and philosophy within which all such questions should be addressed (we’re number one, after all), there are three possibilities with which we must grapple.
First, there is a god. That god is the all loving, merciful god of whom Jesus spoke, who, and this is puzzling, still feels it necessary, among other things, to randomly inflict pain and misery on people who’ve done nothing in particular to deserve it, stuff that even the Koch Brothers would think twice about inflicting, though in the end they probably would.
Second, there is a god. That god is the jealous, petty and arbitrary tribal god of the Old Testament, who encouraged his people to inflict needless suffering and death upon their enemies; those enemies, being in some instances, people who happened to live in places god’s people wanted to invade and take over with no justification whatsoever, except the sanction of their god. It is certainly easy to imagine this god inflicting this winter just for yucks, but we must give the devil his due (hmm, that may be an unfortunate choice of phrasing) and assume, at least for purposes of discussion, that if we are dealing with this god, he is trying to tell us something by inflicting this suffering upon his helpless people.
Third, there is no god. In that case, we are being told nothing, except that we reap what we sow.
Unfortunately, despite my advanced degree in theology, I can’t give a definitive answer to this question, but let us consider the possibilities.
First, let us assume the New Testament god. Obviously, he is a confused and conflicted character, since he himself has a great deal of difficulty acting in a manner consistent with his ideals, but giving him the benefit of the doubt, we must assume that he is sending a message that he is unhappy with us for not acting in a manner consistent with the teachings of his only begotten son. That is, we are not loving one another; we are not feeding the hungry, healing the sick, clothing the naked, etc. Well, he’s right about that, but if that’s his message, hasn’t he picked a rather funny way of delivering it? I mean, why not strike one of the aforementioned Koch Brothers with lightening, just for a start. That would certainly send a message, and a lot less ambiguously. In fact, that’s a real problem with both of the gods we are considering: they tend to speak rather cryptically. Sort of–almost–as if you can take their pronouncements any way you want. But getting back to cases, if that’s the message the kind and loving god is sending, why inflict this winter on New England when he’s given a relative pass to the rest of the country, including the South, where they are much more against loving their fellow man, feeding him, healing him (especially healing him) or clothing him. I mean we’re not perfect, but compared to them, we look pretty good. This is indeed a mystery. But then, god works in mysterious ways. So, we cannot exclude this god as being responsible for our woes. While we cannot understand why this self proclaimed loving and merciful god should inflict needless suffering on comparatively innocent people, it appears to be entirely consistent with his character. The poor guy means well, but he needs therapy.
On first blush, the Old Testament god appears to be the more likely candidate. Here’s a guy who would feel totally comfortable heading up ISIS or Al Qaeda. The term “arbitrary and capricious” comes to this lawyer’s mind. The term “psychopath” might occur to a psychiatrist. He stops at nothing to get his way, even though the point is often unclear. He insists on killing even when the thought appalls his followers. How do I know? The Bible tells me so. So, maybe Pat is right. Maybe we New Englanders (and the whole Northeast to a certain extent) are being singled out for punishment because we have not been sufficiently intolerant. I mean what’s with this gay marriage stuff, not to mention our relative reluctance to ignore the sick, take food from the hungry, etc. What argues the most against this theory is that, whether or not the punishment fits the crime, it has not been sufficiently brutal. It’s not his style. I mean it’s been pretty inconvenient, and some people have even died as a result of this brutal weather, but it just can’t stand comparison to killing everyone on Earth except a boatload of zealots; killing thousands of Egyptians for a situation they did not create, or any of the other atrocities that are documented at the link above. No, when this god sends a message he speaks loudly, carries a big stick, and smashes everything in sight.
That leaves the last alternative. You reap what you sow. We’ve ruined the earth’s climate and are suffering the consequences, and when you look at it that way, New England is making out fairly well. Cold winters suck, don’t get me wrong, and I’m sick of shoveling snow, but at least we’re not heading toward the years of drought that will be visited upon large swathes of our beloved land. But, in a way, this brings us back to god number one. Maybe he’s asking us to look at the whole thing in a global context, and interpret this as a reward, since ultimately almost everyone else is going to have it a lot worse than us. As a theologian I can’t outright dismiss that possibility, but I consider it unlikely. He’s just not capable of thought that nuanced. If there’s a god at work, I think it’s god number 2, and he’s just teeing up.
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