Threes

Bad luck seems to come in waves of three.  I cannot explain it.  I know that as bad as things get, they can get worse.  You imagine the worst; it arrives, and then everything moves on to an even more extreme state.  Where is God?  Does Divinity care?  Are we fodder in a divine game of amusement? 
 
I believe disasters and pain come from the conflux of three different forces.  Each is important, vital to our knowledge of the road ahead.  First, we came into this life with a most precious gift – freedom.  We are always free to choose.  We may give this another; yet we can always take it back.  No matter what happens, no matter how extreme our situation might be, even in our most feeble state, we can choose.  Sometimes the cascade of your choice and mine brings consequences far beyond anything we imagined – good and bad.
 
Second, a battle wages in the universe.  This concept can be difficult to conceive; good & evil, community & self, and unconditional love & action based acceptance are at war.  It’s a conflict that will be resolved with time; however we’re still part of the battle which remains.  We much choose a side, remembering, as in all wars, the innocent suffer regardless of their choice.
 
Third, God can see the beginning and end.  In the mist of the chaos of war and freedom, God acts.  Divinity will not violate our freedom because any response must been placed in context of the battle.  Yet God does act.  One writer noted that “the banks of the Dibon crest with blood, but God has worse in store for Dibon: a lion—a lion to finish off the fugitives, to clean up whoever's left in the land.”  (Isaiah 15.9) 
 
So where does this leave us?  We hold the freedom which determines the story of the battle.  God is in life’s mix, ready to engage with us, acting where necessary.  I don’t understand yet I do have faith.  My focus is in exercising freedom – for the community, God, and the cause.