(December 12, 2013) I had a thought while reading this chapter that I have often thought of when reading similar chapters. What about those who were not unrighteous? Presumably there were many people who were not delighting in bloodshed (probably on both sides), and yet here we have the widespread destruction of an entire people. What of the children, sacrificed on idols? What of their terror and pain?
The course of humanity seems to be a river beyond the control of most of us. We can influence a splash here, or an eddy there, but the flow of time and man sweep by us regardless of our efforts to change its course. It leaves me with a strong feeling of futility – even in my own life and immediate circumstances, I find my best efforts insignificant. What hope have we in this life is we are confronted with tides and forces so far beyond our ability to influence and to which so control our lives?
I come back to the philosophy of absurdism. Either the world is absurd, and there is no meaningful answer to anything. Or the world is a shadow of the World from which we come – where Justice exists even when we lose justice, where Mercy exists even in the absence of mercy, and where Hope endures even when we have lost all hope. There is no way to deal with suffering in the world without the understanding that the world is not all there is.
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